Social media influencer and vocal anti-finance bill advocate, Khalif Kairo, has outlined his reasons for not joining the planned protest march to State House on June 27.
In light of President William Ruto‘s press conference on June 26, where he withdrew the Finance Bill 2024, Khalif urged his fellow Gen Z protesters to pause and consider dialogue instead of taking to the streets.
According to him, going forward with the protests may erode the impact and progress they have made.
“If we go to the streets again tomorrow, we might erode whatever we have been able to gain,” he shared.
He further acknowledged that the demonstrations have brought forth a huge achievement since they have managed to get the president to listen to them.
“One thing that has given me hope is that we have seen them climb down to where we want them to come, that is a big achievement,” he acknowledged.
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In support to Kairo’s message, Hanifa Farsafi, an activist and huge supporter of the ant-finance bill 2024, also advised the Gen Zs not to march to the State House urging them to instead honor the fallen comrades by donating blood at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
“The damage is a lot already let’s take care of the ones we have now. Please do not march to State House,” Hanifa threw her weight behind Kairo.
Kairo Gives His Reasons
In the video as seen by The Kenya Times, Kairo gives two reasons as to why marching to State House would be unwise.
He argued that pushing President William Ruto to resign would not solve all Kenya’s problems.
Kairo provided an alternative of giving the president a month to make amends and meet the promises he gave.
“My appeal would be, since we have brought them to where we wanted them to come, let’s give them a month, let’s give him time and see what happens.
If within a month or two we see nothing is happening, we can always come back and say we are going to go the streets again,” Kairo addressed.
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Consequently, he pointed out that his choosing to retreat was not from a point of cowardice but from a point of patriotism and looking at the bigger picture.
“It is also a point at looking and appreciating that if we love our country Kenya then we should not stand for anything that will bring instability to this country or anything that would bring it down,” he added.
Kairo pressed that he was not speaking as the leader of the Gen Z demonstrations and was only giving his point of view as to why he would not be marching to statehouse.
“This movement does not have a leader, so this is just the opinion of one person, but please take time to heed to my advice,” he concluded.
Several voices also asked Kenyans not to go the streets, including Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Kileleshwa Member of County Assembly (MCA) and blogger Robert Alai also called on Gen Z not to march to State House since their voices had been heard.
“Morning people, don’t go to State House. You have legitimate plights. You will lose it if you become unreasonable. Avoid State House,” said Alai.
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