Miguna hails Gen Z’s independence in shaping future leadership
Outspoken lawyer Miguna Miguna has expressed confidence that Kenya’s Gen Z movement will play a key role in shaping the country’s future leadership.
Speaking on a local TV station on Sunday, July 13, 2025, Miguna said the youth have already demonstrated that they are a force to reckon with, one that can no longer be sidelined by the political establishment.
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He noted that this generation of young Kenyans has deliberately chosen to reject tribal politics and centralised leadership, presenting themselves as tribe-less and leaderless by design.
“The youth in Kenya call themselves tribe less and leaderless, leaderless because if they were to announce who their leaders are, the state will either kill those leaders or bribe them,” he stated.
Miguna explained that their decision to remain without clearly defined leaders is not out of disorganisation, but rather a strategic move to shield themselves from state retaliation. According to him, any individual publicly identified as leaders risk being either co-opted by bribes or targeted for elimination by the state.
This intentional anonymity, he argued, is what protects the integrity of the movement and allows it to thrive.
Despite the lack of formal leadership, Miguna said he is fully confident that, in due time, the Gen Z-led movement will naturally produce its leaders from within individuals who will emerge organically, grounded in the values and ideals of the people they represent.
“I have my faith in the Gen Zs, in the movement that is ongoing and in the fullness of time, that movement will produce organically its leader,” Miguna Miguna added.
“They are not waiting for anyone to tell them what to do. They are doing it themselves. That’s the future of Kenya.”
Gen Z movement
Since June 2024, Gen Z in Kenya has taken centre stage in the country’s political and social landscape. What started as online anger over the Finance Bill 2024 quickly turned into a massive protest movement. Thousands of young people across the country took to the streets under the hashtag #RejectFinanceBill2024, demanding that the government drop the proposed tax hikes.
The protests were organised online, with no official leaders and no political or tribal affiliations. This new approach caught the political class by surprise. After several days of protests and a deadly response from the police, President William Ruto was forced to withdraw the bill.
But Gen Z did not stop there. Since then, they have continued to speak out and organise demonstrations against police brutality, femicide, corruption, and the government’s failure to address issues affecting ordinary Kenyans. They have turned grief and anger into action, especially after the death of popular blogger Albert Ojwang, who died in police custody in mid-2025. His death sparked a fresh wave of protests across the country.
