{"id":117554,"date":"2025-07-04T11:04:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T11:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/07\/04\/cs-kagwe-warns-of-criminal-infiltration-in-gen-z-protests\/"},"modified":"2025-07-04T11:04:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T11:04:27","slug":"cs-kagwe-warns-of-criminal-infiltration-in-gen-z-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/cs-kagwe-warns-of-criminal-infiltration-in-gen-z-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"CS Kagwe Warns of Criminal Infiltration in Gen Z Protests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 4 \u2013 Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has cautioned against what he termed as the growing infiltration of peaceful Gen Z-led protests by criminal elements intent on causing chaos and destruction.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Speaking on Friday during an official visit to Nakuru County, Kagwe reiterated that the right to peaceful protest is enshrined in the Constitution, but warned that recent acts of vandalism do not reflect the spirit of genuine civic demonstrations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is not our children. It\u2019s not the Gen Z demonstrators who were doing those things. That is terrorism, not the work of Gen Z don\u2019t be misled,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Kagwe\u2019s remarks come amid a national wave of youth-led demonstrations calling for government accountability and better governance, which have in some instances been marred by property damage and looting.<\/p>\n<p>He pointed to the recent attack on National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) facilities in Maua, Meru County, as an example of how criminal gangs are using the protests as a smokescreen to execute their own agendas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere your children the ones who vandalised Maua or police stations? That wasn\u2019t them,\u201dKagwe said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Agriculture Cabinet Secretary these actions are being orchestrated by groups who strategically use the cover of demonstrations to carry out illegal acts, including looting and destruction of public infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who loot supermarkets and attack public buildings are not the youth who are peacefully demonstrating. These are criminals taking advantage of the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Kagwe urged Kenyans to remain alert and take active responsibility in protecting the country\u2019s shared resources during this period of heightened political expression.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are asking you to be vigilant as citizens. Protect what we have so that we don\u2019t lose livelihoods or destroy national assets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasized that demonstrations, when conducted peacefully, are legitimate expressions of public will.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemonstrations are fine. They are protected by the Constitution. In countries like France, people protest almost every day, but they don\u2019t destroy anything,\u201d Kagwe said.<\/p>\n<p>The Cabinet Secretary was categorical that Kenya must not allow criminal acts to masquerade as civic engagement. He warned that unchecked violence could undermine the democratic space that protesters are trying to protect.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must make sure that criminals do not hide behind our children to destroy what we have built,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not politics it\u2019s about protecting our democracy from becoming anarchy.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 4 \u2013 Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has cautioned against what he termed as the growing infiltration of peaceful Gen Z-led protests by criminal elements intent on causing chaos and destruction. Speaking on Friday during an official visit to Nakuru County, Kagwe reiterated that the right to peaceful protest is enshrined in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117554\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}