June 25 will be marked as a holiday in future — Kalonzo

Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka and DAP-K leader Eugene Wamalwa and other Kenyans on their wat to lay wreaths along Parliament Road, June 25, 2025/ Kalonzo Musyoka /X 

Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has expressed strong support for the Gen Z-led protests, saying the youth’s anger is justified and deserves national recognition.

Kenyans were on the streets in commemoration of the 2024 youth-led movement that shook the political landscape, demanding change in governance and accountability on matters such as taxation and public finance.

Speaking on Wednesday, Kalonzo said that in years to come, the June 25 protests would be commemorated as a national holiday.

“If they deny us today the possibility of going outside Parliament, in the years to come, this will be celebrated as a national holiday properly, with people able to come without having these heavily armed policemen,” he said.

Kalonzo said he understands the frustration and grief felt by the youth, especially those who lost friends and loved ones in last year’s protests.

“They were shot, killed, maimed and a year later, nothing has changed,” he said.

He urged the government to listen and empathise with the young generation’s pain, not dismiss it.

“We feel the pain with them,” he added.

Kalonzo and a section of opposition leaders honoured the youth killed in the 2024 Gen Z protests by laying flowers at the spot where he claimed dozens were killed, along Parliament Road.