Organizers and grieving families have issued a passionate appeal urging Kenyans to stay away from work and school on June 25 to observe a nationwide day of remembrance for young people killed during anti-government demonstrations over the past two years.
The coordinated economic boycott and solidarity campaign, spearheaded by the civic coalitions #HakiSasa and #JusticeNow, aims to completely empty major urban centers to pay solemn tribute to the generation that lost their lives while fighting for socio-economic justice.
The steering committee has already drafted a comprehensive statutory notification to be delivered directly to Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja regarding the planned solemn activities.
The families of the victims revealed that they will be accompanied to the police headquarters by a high-profile delegation of prominent legal and human rights figures, including Chief Justice Emeritus Willy Mutunga, Senior Counsel Martha Karua, Senior Counsel James Orengo, Senior Counsel Gitobu Imanyara, and MUHURI Executive Director Khelef Khalifa.
The high-level legal team is seeking strict, ironclad assurances from the Inspector-General that the police service will professionally fulfill its constitutional mandate to protect lives and property during the peaceful commemorative activities.
The organizers strongly maintained that state security machinery must proactively guarantee public safety and refrain from deploying lethal force against peaceful citizens.
They emphasized that no parent should ever have to bury a child for participating in a lawful civic engagement or expressing dissenting views.
In the capital city of Nairobi, parents, siblings, and friends of the deceased are expected to lead a highly emotional procession to the precincts of Parliament to demand long-overdue judicial accountability.
The participants plan to lay flowers at specific geographical spots where victims were fatally shot during past demonstrations against punitive tax legislations.
The organizers maintain that staying at home or joining the solemn processions remains a vital generational duty to ensure that the ultimate sacrifices of the fallen youth are never erased from the nation’s history.