What began as a day of remembrance ended in bloodshed in Molo, Nakuru County, after a teenage student from Njenga Karume Secondary School was gunned down during nationwide protests marking one year since the Gen Z uprising of 2024.
The young boy, whose name had yet to be officially released by evening, was part of a crowd gathered to express frustration and demand accountability. But when police moved in to disperse the group, gunfire rang out leaving him dead on the spot and four others wounded, two of them critically.
The sound of bullets shattered the chants. And then, grief turned into defiance.
Fellow protesters, some barely older than the boy himself, lifted his body and marched through the streets. They carried him high, as if refusing to let the country look away. Their voices, laced with sorrow and rage, echoed a growing sentiment across Kenya: enough is enough.
In Nakuru City, fires lit up the Nakuru–Nairobi highway near Kabarak, bringing traffic to a halt. The burning tyres symbolized a nation simmering with anger—one not just mourning the dead, but confronting a state that many feel has grown deaf to its own people.
Across the country, the picture was the same.
In Nairobi, running battles unfolded in the Central Business District. Police deployed tear gas, batons, and water cannons to scatter demonstrators. But in places like Mukuru Kwa Njenga, the violence escalated even further. Witnesses say a young man and a child were both shot by an officer allegedly attached to the Villa Police Station.
By late afternoon, Kenyatta National Hospital had admitted at least ten victims with gunshot wounds. The shooters remained unidentified.
In Nyeri, Kisumu, Mombasa, and other towns, the pattern was familiar: peaceful protests turning violent after police interventions, leaving behind a trail of injuries and, in some cases, death.
As the nation reels from yet another tragic loss of young life, calls for deep police reform have intensified. On social media and in the streets, voices are rising louder, accusing the state of turning protests into war zones and peaceful demands into reasons for repression.
The life of one student cut short in a moment that was meant to honor the fallen has now become a rallying cry.
