Gen Zs Told Us To Keep Off: Gachagua On Skipping June 25 Protests
The impeached second in command also claimed that joining the protests would have given his political opponents solid evidence for their claims that he funded the Gen Z-led protests.
Viral Tea Ke Writer 
Former Deputy President and Democracy for the Citizens Party (DCP) party leader Rigathi Gachagua has revealed that he was absent from the June 25 anniversary demonstrations because he was following a directive issued to all leaders by the Gen Zs last year.
Speaking during an interview with NTV on Friday, June 27, Gachagua recounted that the Gen Zs had affirmed that the leaders should keep off the protests to avoid being 'captured', affirming that the protests were organic and not bankrolled by anybody.
The impeached second in command also claimed that joining the protests would have given his political opponents solid evidence for their claims that he funded the Gen Z-led protests.
Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and DAP-K party leader Eugene Wamalwa, when they led a group of opposition figures during protests on June 25, 2025. /KALONZO MUSYOKA
"I didn't want to join the protests. During the 2024 protests, the Gen Zs asked us, the leaders and the elders, to keep off the protests, and that is as it should be because they don't want to be owned by anybody because they are not under the direction of anybody and not financed by anybody. These are our young people who are bright, intelligent, innovative and doing their own things," he explained.
"I think if I had joined the streets on Wednesday, it would have given credence to those very ridiculous accusations that I'm the one who financed these Gen Zs. I deliberately kept off because the Gen Zs asked us to keep off. I have nothing to do with it. I'm not their leader, I'm not their financier, I just support them morally, I am in support of their cause that we shouldn't have abductions, extra-judicial killings."
He added, "I had no business joining them in the streets because that is their thing, because it is leaderless, it is tribeless, not political. It is something by our young people as part of their patriotic and civic duty to have the country run in the right direction."
During protests held on Wednesday, June 25, in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD), several politicians joined demonstrators to commemorate the first anniversary of the deadly 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests. Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka and DAP-K party leader Eugene Wamalwa led a group of opposition figures in laying wreaths along Parliament Road.
Former Chief Justice David Maraga also took part, joining protestors on Kimathi Street in the CBD alongside former MP Augustine Neto and his security team. However, anti-riot police fired teargas in the area, forcing Maraga to seek shelter at the Nation Centre.
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah participated in the demonstrations near the GPO along Kenyatta Avenue, marching with protestors as they paid tribute to young people killed during the June 2024 protests. Embakasi East MP Babu Owino joined demonstrators along Moi Avenue, where supporters lifted him shoulder-high in solidarity.
Meanwhile, Gachagua pushed back against accusations from President William Ruto’s allies that he had hired goons during the Gen Z memorial protests on June 25, questioned why, if those individuals were truly linked to him, they had not been arrested.
He also challenged the government to explain why no action was taken if it indeed had intelligence suggesting he was planning to fund such groups ahead of the protests, further arguing that if the vandals responsible for the chaos were actually under his direction, they would have either been shot or already in custody.
“I don’t know how fragile this government is. That a CS Interior is walking in the streets of Nairobi in the morning, and you are saying that was an attempted coup. If they had intelligence that goons were being paid by Rigathi Gachagua or anyone else, why did they not arrest these goons?” he said.
“If they were my goons today, they would have been shot dead or in custody. Whey, if they had intelligence that Gachagua or anyone else had paid goons to come and cause mayhem in Nairobi, why didn’t they act on that intelligence? How did they allow goons to go to a police station unarmed and take over our police stations?”
Additionally, Gachagua alleged that the looting seen in Nairobi happened in the dark and under police supervision, shortly after the arrival of the suspected goons, who he claimed entered the city at around 6:00 p.m.
“I think the CS Interior must respect the people of Kenya. It is evident that in Nairobi, the real goons came after 6:00 pm, and downtown Nairobi, in Nyamakima, River Road, Taveta Road, and Luthuli Avenue, the havoc and looting were done in darkness under the supervision of the police. Why were these gangs not shot?” Gachagua questioned.
Protestors run as police use a water cannon during a demonstration in Nairobi, Kenya, on June 25, 2025. /REUTERS.MONICAH MWANGI
