Speaking after the nationwide protests that marked the first anniversary of the 2024 anti-Finance Bill movement, Omtatah said he monitored the crowd and deliberately intervened to prevent escalation.
“There was pressure for people to march to State House,” he said. “One of the reasons I sat down tracking the crowd was to stop that march because I believed people were going to be killed. And I didn’t want another life lost, when we were commemorating the death of other people.”
Omtatah, a long-time civil rights defender and constitutional activist, clarified that while he fully supports the spirit of protest and the urgent demands for justice, reform, and economic accountability, the method of achieving that change must remain constitutional and peaceful.
“Kenya should avoid an uprising. We should have a revolution — but a constitutional one,” he said. “This anger must be channelled to a revolution, not to an uprising. The danger of an uprising is chaos. Organised groups can take state power — and you can see where Sudan is.”
He warned that marching on the State House would have pushed Kenya to the brink of violent conflict, citing risks of loss of life and destabilisation.
“If people are shot, and those shooting run away, power can be taken chaotically,” he added. “You don’t know what will result; we could end up jumping from the frying pan into the fire.”
The June 25 protests, held across Kenya, were largely peaceful, though some incidents turned violent. The day was marked by vigils and marches in honour of over 75 protesters who died in 2024, according to human rights organisations.
While lauding the courage and energy of young protesters, Omtatah urged them to now channel that momentum into political participation, starting with voter registration and electoral reform.
“We must manage this anger, this demand for good governance, cleverly. Using the Constitution, we can engineer a revolution — and that revolution will have to begin with politics,” he said.
Omtatah proposed a nationwide voter registration drive targeting young Kenyans, noting that political power ultimately lies in the ballot.
“People must be registered as voters. Once they are registered, we prepare for elections and monitor each one carefully,” he stated.
He also called for tighter oversight of the electoral infrastructure, citing previous cases where fraudulent polling stations were discovered.
“In every ward, we should say: these are the polling stations gazetted. Download the app, move around with GPS and confirm they exist. Last time, we discovered a polling station allegedly located in a non-existent primary school. One even had just a gate — that’s it.”
His comments come amid a rising political reawakening among Kenya’s youth, who have taken a leading role in demanding accountability from the government and elected officials. The June 25 demonstrations drew massive crowds, with many protesting against corruption, economic mismanagement, police brutality, and democratic backsliding.
Omtatah’s remarks add a sobering dimension to the protest movement, calling on youth-led movements to organise, strategise, and ultimately seize power through the ballot, not the streets.
His message to Gen Z was clear: “The streets have awakened the country. Now let us take that awakening to the polls.”
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has revealed that he opposed calls by Gen Z protesters to march to State House during the June 25, 2025 demonstrations, warning that such a move would have resulted in deadly confrontation with security forces.
Speaking after the nationwide protests that marked the first anniversary of the 2024 anti-Finance Bill movement, Omtatah said he monitored the crowd and deliberately intervened to prevent escalation.
“There was pressure for people to march to State House,” he said. “One of the reasons I sat down tracking the crowd was to stop that march because I believed people were going to be killed. And I didn’t want another life lost, when we were commemorating the death of other people.”
Omtatah, a long-time civil rights defender and constitutional activist, clarified that while he fully supports the spirit of protest and the urgent demands for justice, reform, and economic accountability, the method of achieving that change must remain constitutional and peaceful.
“Kenya should avoid an uprising. We should have a revolution — but a constitutional one,” he said. “This anger must be channelled to a revolution, not to an uprising. The danger of an uprising is chaos. Organised groups can take state power — and you can see where Sudan is.”
He warned that marching on the State House would have pushed Kenya to the brink of violent conflict, citing risks of loss of life and destabilisation.
“If people are shot, and those shooting run away, power can be taken chaotically,” he added. “You don’t know what will result; we could end up jumping from the frying pan into the fire.”
The June 25 protests, held across Kenya, were largely peaceful, though some incidents turned violent. The day was marked by vigils and marches in honour of over 75 protesters who died in 2024, according to human rights organisations.
While lauding the courage and energy of young protesters, Omtatah urged them to now channel that momentum into political participation, starting with voter registration and electoral reform.
“We must manage this anger, this demand for good governance, cleverly. Using the Constitution, we can engineer a revolution — and that revolution will have to begin with politics,” he said.
Omtatah proposed a nationwide voter registration drive targeting young Kenyans, noting that political power ultimately lies in the ballot.
“People must be registered as voters. Once they are registered, we prepare for elections and monitor each one carefully,” he stated.
He also called for tighter oversight of the electoral infrastructure, citing previous cases where fraudulent polling stations were discovered.
“In every ward, we should say: these are the polling stations gazetted. Download the app, move around with GPS and confirm they exist. Last time, we discovered a polling station allegedly located in a non-existent primary school. One even had just a gate — that’s it.”
His comments come amid a rising political reawakening among Kenya’s youth, who have taken a leading role in demanding accountability from the government and elected officials. The June 25 demonstrations drew massive crowds, with many protesting against corruption, economic mismanagement, police brutality, and democratic backsliding.
Omtatah’s remarks add a sobering dimension to the protest movement, calling on youth-led movements to organise, strategise, and ultimately seize power through the ballot, not the streets.
His message to Gen Z was clear: “The streets have awakened the country. Now let us take that awakening to the polls.”
