• If January 13 lit the torch, the days ahead will decide whether it burns steadily or sputters out. The Youth 47 Movement’s true test lies in turning chants into charters and restless energy into lasting reform. The question is no longer whether the youth can rise; it is whether they can endure.
January 13, 2026, was not just another day on Kenya’s calendar—it was the day a torch was handed to a generation long kept waiting at the gates of power.

The Youth 47 Movement, unveiled by Eric Omondi, rose like a flare against Kenya’s weary political sky, carrying with it a promise that this time, change would not be whispered but shouted. For the first time, the country experienced an organised, premeditated youth uprising determined to turn protest into policy.

If January 13 lit the torch, the days ahead will decide whether it burns steadily or sputters out. The Youth 47 Movement’s true test lies in turning chants into charters and restless energy into lasting reform. The question is no longer whether the youth can rise; it is whether they can endure.

Kenya’s political arithmetic has always been skewed, but the numbers do not lie: the youth are the majority. More than 75% of the population is under 35, a demographic tidal wave that should already have reshaped the ballot box. Yet, for decades, those numbers have been treated as statistics, not as power—mobilised for rallies but rarely trusted with leadership.

In June 2024, young Kenyans poured into the streets with a defiance that rattled the State. For a moment, the country felt the tremor of a generation refusing to be ignored. Placards became megaphones, and the youth looked unstoppable, until they stopped themselves.

But like ripples on water, the energy began to fade. The protests shook the surface, yet the deeper currents of patronage, bureaucracy, and fatigue pulled the wave back. What began as a roar settled into silence, leaving behind the haunting question: how can a majority so loud in the streets remain so quiet in the chambers of power?

Fast forward to 2026, youths have again owned the spotlight, and they did not even wait for June to do it under the justification of remembering those they lost in June 2024. They have learned that actual change is not kindled in the streets alone, but forged in the chambers of representation.

Yet the old guard cannot be written out of this story. Their role is to pass the torch with purpose, to guide and to ensure that the successors they once resisted do not vanish into the very system they sought to dismantle. Experience, if offered in good faith, can become wisdom that, in turn, serves as a compass pointing youth toward a future that serves the country, not just its politics.

So, even as the Youth 47 Movement provides the young people of this country an opportunity to engage in politics actively, it also opens a conversation that begins with two fundamental questions: Do the youth have what it takes to shape policy? And is Kenya ready for a Parliament dominated by people under the age of 35?

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