One year later, traders struggle to rebuild after chaotic protests

Caroline Mugwanja does not want to be reminded of 2024 events.

“Please, don’t remind me of that,” says the trader, who deals in electronics, particularly mobile phones. Her shop in Kitengela, Kajiado County, has been her livelihood for almost eight years. 

“I lost stock worth Sh500,000,” says Mugwanja. “I never want to recall those events. It was painful.” 

The businesswoman recalls how she was left hopeless. “I locked myself in the house for four months. I was so depressed,” she says. “I actually reopened some months ago. Is it January or February? I can’t quite remember.” 

Kitengela, a satellite town of the larger Nairobi Metropolitan, was one of the hotspots of the Gen Z protests against the Finance Bill, 2024. 

Businesses were vandalised by goons who took advantage of the protests.

A majority of the businesses targeted were those dealing in electronics, alcohol, and foodstuff. 

“They would smash windows and grab what they can. They ran away with shoes and clothes on display,” says Robert Kimani, a businessman. “I know of people who have never recovered since.” 

For some business owners, it is their choice of products that saved them. But even so, it did not shield them from the losses that they incurred like in the case of Matthew Omondi, who had hired men to fix shelves in his new shop. 

“They usually closed themselves in and worked as the protests went on outside. On this day, the youth forced themselves in, robbed them of their phones and took the machines they were using. I could not fire them. It was not their fault. I bought them new ones to finish the job,” he says.

For others who escaped looting, long closures meant they had to do without sales. 

Some traders are still living in fear and openly talk about the incidents. They know some of the people who planned the chaos but cannot mention their names. They point fingers to closed shops of their peers who have never reopened. 

The Gen Z protests have partly been blamed for decelerated economic growth that stood at 4.7 per cent in 2024 from the projected 5.3 per cent. In 2023, the country had recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.7 per cent. 

“In fact, at one point we thought the economy in 2024 would slow down to 4.6 per cent,” said National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi during the launch of the 2025 Economic Survey Report, adding that the protests made the economy slow down for three months. 

But Churchill Ogutu, an economist at IC Group, explains that while the protests did play a role in slowing growth, the economy has not been doing well. 

“The protests played a part but if one has to look at the growth in nominal GDP, there has been some slowdown and that speaks to some of the structural issues,” he says. 

One of these structural issues is the changing business environment, which he says is not supportive of production. Additionally, as confirmed by 2025 Economic Survey Report, the reduction in disposable income also slowed down consumption, which he partly attributes to enhanced statutory contributions such as the National Social Security Fund. 

“The Gen Z protest was an implosion of the underlying issues in the economy and challenging the status quo on how the economy has been run as much as the outlet was initially the Finance Bill, 2024,” he concludes. 

In July, Government Spokesperson Isaac Mwaura said the protests cost the country Sh6 billion in revenue.

Kenya Private Sector Alliance (Kepsa) Chief Executive Carole Kariuki, during a meeting with National Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo to discuss  business environment and Finance Bill, 2025, pointed out the need for elaborate dialogue to avoid a repeat of 2024 Budget chaos. 

“We were in the boardroom saying the same thing Gen Z were saying on the streets,” she said. “There is a Finance Bill coming up and for all of us who remember last year know how that went. We said we do not want to go down the same journey this year.”