Journalist Kwamchetsi Makokha has raised questions over the future of the Linda Mwananchi movement as it seeks to transition from a protest movement into an organised force capable of participating in Kenya’s electoral politics.
Makokha said the political mood that defined the Gen Z-led protests could be summed up in three words: “leaderless, tribeless, partyless.”
He argued that the phrase represented more than a rejection of established politicians, political parties and ethnic mobilisation.
“These three words captured the political mood of Kenya’s Gen Z uprising. Rather than a manifesto, they were a rejection: of the political leader as proprietor; of the tribe as political destiny; and of the political party as the institution through which citizens organise and exercise power,” Makokha said.
According to the journalist, the position did not necessarily mean that young Kenyans wanted political parties permanently removed from the country’s political system.
Instead, he said it reflected growing distrust in institutions that many young people felt had failed to represent their interests, with political parties being among the institutions facing the strongest criticism.
Makokha said Linda Mwananchi was created against this backdrop of institutional distrust but now faces a difficult transition as it considers entering electoral politics.
The movement would require candidates, nomination processes, officials, organisational structures and eventually a formal political vehicle if it intends to contest elections effectively.
He identified Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna as being at the centre of this political challenge, noting that Sifuna is an established politician whose career has developed within the same political institutions that sections of the Gen Z movement questioned.
Makokha, however, noted that Sifuna did not claim ownership of the Gen Z protests and had previously acknowledged the movement's independence from established political leaders.
“He did not invent the Gen Z revolt. Nor can he simply speak for it,” Makokha said, adding that Sifuna had recognised the movement's political agency during discussions surrounding the proposed national dialogue.
The journalist said the central challenge for Sifuna and other figures associated with Linda Mwananchi would be converting a loosely organised movement into an electoral project without reproducing the practices that fuelled distrust in established politics.
He argued that once a movement enters electoral politics, questions over leadership, nominations, decision-making and political representation inevitably emerge.
Makokha warned that Linda Mwananchi could eventually face the same personality-driven rivalries and factional politics that have characterised established parties if it fails to create transparent and accountable structures.
“If Linda Mwananchi reproduces these practices, it will not matter that its leaders are younger or that its supporters came through the Gen Z protests. It will have changed the monkeys without changing the forest,” he said.
He suggested that the deeper meaning of “partyless” could therefore be a demand for different political institutions rather than permanent political disorganisation.
For Linda Mwananchi, he said, the test will be whether it can build an organisation where leaders remain accountable, ethnicity has limited political influence and members have a meaningful role in decision-making.