Suluhu's crackdown call on Gen Z, rights activists puts Ruto on spot

President Samia Suluhu’s hardline remarks against Gen Z activists have cast a spotlight on William Ruto’s conspicuous silence, raising questions about whether Kenya is aligning with a regional push to rein in youth-led dissent.

Speaking during Ruto’s official visit to Tanzania, Suluhu took on what she described as “unruly children” identifying as Gen Z and claiming to defend democracy across East Africa.

President Suluhu stated that the dissenting youth should be ‘punished’, arguing that they risk destabilising governments, accusing them of causing mayhem and destroying property in the name of activism.

“When I was discussing with President Ruto on how to deal with these unruly young people who call themselves Gen Z’s, I told him we need to stand firm on these undisciplined children.”

“They claim to be East Africans defending democracy in the East Africa Community but they are destabilising their governments and burning property,” Suluhu said in a forum attended by Ruto.

She was referencing the unrest that erupted in Tanzania during the electioneering period in October 2025, where thousands of Tanzanian young people took to the streets to protest widespread allegations of vote-rigging, suppression of opposition and extreme police brutality.

After Suluhu’s contested 98 per cent victory, the youth took to the streets to demand transparency, accountability and an end to authoritarianism. The protests led to widespread destruction of private and public property and left hundreds of protestors killed and others suffering serious injuries caused by police brutality.

In direct remarks that pointed to coordinated state action against dissent, Suluhu told Ruto, “We should not care whether they are Kenyan or Tanzanian citizens. If they come to Tanzania, I will push them, and when they come to you, punish them so that we can align them.”

“This way we will have a community that has people who are respectful and properly disciplined,” Suluhu asserted.

Suluhu spoke barely a week after Tanzania’s Commission of Inquiry released a report revealing that at least 518 people were killed in Tanzania during and post-elections violence that erupted after the general elections in October 2025.

The remarks have triggered reactions among human rights advocates and politicians in Kenya who described them as a signal to growing intolerance toward cross-border activism and blatant disregard for human rights.

However, President Ruto’s failure to address the assertions by his counterpart has drawn equal scrutiny. Despite being present and accompanied by a high-level Kenyan delegation including cabinet secretaries, principal secretaries, ambassadors, governors, Ruto did not publicly address or counter the remarks, even after a Kenyan family from Siaya is still seeking answers on the whereabouts of their kin’s body who was reportedly shot dead in Tanzania during the protests.

John Okoth Ogutu, a 33-year-old Kenyan teacher at Sky Schools in Dar es Salaam, was reported shot dead by police on October 29, 2025, in the Goba area of Ubungo District.

Months after the killing, the family is yet to locate his body, raising questions whether he was among the killed protestors who were buried in mass graves in Tanzania.

Prime Cabinet Secretary and CS for Diaspora and Foreign Affairs Musalia Mudavadi confirmed in November 2025 that at least two Kenyans, including Ogutu, were killed in Tanzania, but their bodies could not be traced.

In their report, presented to President Suluhu at State House about a week ago, the Commission, chaired by retired Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman, said the deaths could be higher, citing unreported burials that are yet to be confirmed by authorities.

Further, Othman said there were reports of 758 people who had gone missing over the past two years and another 245 still unaccounted for.

Other Kenyans were also arrested and detained in Tanzania. Families have reported frustrations in seeking assistance from the Kenyan government and difficulty in obtaining information from Tanzanian authorities.

Former Chief Justice David Maraga said the remarks by Suluhu were ‘abhorrent and deeply disturbing’, citing growing state coordination to silence dissent. “It is regrettable that the two presidents are reported to have discussed coordinating efforts to “chapa mikwajo” the Gen Z across Kenya and Tanzania,” Maraga said.

He regretted the remarks shortly after President Suluhu received the report of the Commission of Inquiry into killings in which more than 518 people lost their lives, primarily from gunshot wounds.

“To date, not a single person has been held accountable. We must also not forget that our compatriot Boniface Mwangi, and Agather Atuhaire of Uganda, were tortured on Tanzanian soil. The perpetrators remain free. “

“Citizens of East Africa must speak up. The axis of tyranny that Presidents Suluhu and Ruto are constructing threatens to return our region to autocracy,” Maraga added, stating that the EA region cannot advance while leaders suppress dissent and trample on the basic rights of the people.

Mwangi and Atuhaire were abducted in Tanzania and tortured after going to Tanzania last to show solidarity with detained opposition politician Tundu Lissu.

 Later after their release, the two said in a press conference that they were sexually assaulted while in detention.

Mwangi claimed that he was stripped naked, hung upside down, beaten and sodomised ‘with all manner of things’

“As Chief Justice, I cherished the brotherly bonds within our East African Jumuiya and worked closely with my colleagues in the Tanzanian judiciary in the shared pursuit of justice and the rule of law. I am therefore deeply disturbed by the remarks,” Maraga added.

In the speech, President Suluhu also accused activists of attempting to import and replicate Western democracy models into East Africa, arguing that governance in the region is shaped by its own values, customs and cultural norms. Disregard the regions

“The name democracy should not spoil and taint the reputation of our countries, our culture and social norms. Democracy doesn’t adopt any formula; what is defined as democracy elsewhere is different from our democracy.”

“We have our own values, customs and culture that align with that democracy. I was telling Ruto that we should stand in unity to protect our countries,” She added.

The Linda Mwananchi team also castigated Ruto’s visit to Tanzania and Suluhu's remarks, saying they signal a betrayal of the people.

“This visit coming hot on the heels of recent grave happenings in Tanzania, is not only a betrayal of the people of Tanzania but also a betrayal of the very fundamental principles of democracy and freedom that we Kenyans hold dear,” the team said in a statement signed by Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna and Siaya Governor James Orengo.

The political leaders said that by addressing the Tanzanian parliament, Ruto is attempting to place Kenya’s stamp of legitimacy on a fraudulent regime and electoral process marred by violence and irregularities.

“The main opponents of the incumbent President faced a violent crackdown, arrests, kidnappings and even death. The main Opposition Party CHADEMA, was banned from participating in the elections.”

“Its leader, Tundu Lissu, was arrested on trumped-up treason charges and subjected to a farcical trial which the state continues to stall in order to continue keeping him in jail,” read the statement.

The team further argued that the African Union Election Observer Mission confirmed that the election “did not comply with AU principles, normative frameworks, and other international obligations and standards,” citing ballot stuffing, an internet blackout, and politically motivated abductions.

UN Human Rights experts and Secretary General António Guterres also raised concern over reports of hundreds of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and mass arbitrary detentions of protestors and opposition figures, while SADC observers reported widespread irregularities.

“These are just a few of the credible voices that spoke against the conduct of the Tanzanian elections and the violence meted out on unarmed citizens post-election. We can confidently state that the threshold of democracy and fairness was not met, especially given that opposition representatives had been placed behind bars.”

“In such a context, a high-profile presidential address risks being interpreted as an endorsement of contested processes and a troubling departure from Kenya’s longstanding commitment to democratic values,” they said.

During then elections period, People’s Liberation Party leader and lawyer Maratha Karua, two other colleagues were deported from Tanzania to prevent her from attending the court case of opposition leader Tundu Lissu. Similarly, Former Kenyan chief justice Willy Mutunga and other prominent rights activists who later travelled there over Lissu’s case were also stopped and held at the airport.

“We have also not forgotten that it was on the floor of the Tanzanian Parliament, where Kenyan activists who were brutalized in Tanzania were mocked repeatedly, with some of the
vilest comments coming from people who should essentially be honourable. We must therefore question the intent and timing of this address,” they stated.

With Kenya heading to elections in just over 14 months, the Linda Mwananchi team argued that Ruto’s “hobnobbing with election thieves and dictators in the region may be a pointer to his manner and methods.”

“But we wish to categorically state that Kenya is neither Tanzania nor Uganda, and the wishes of the people here will prevail in 2027. Kenya’s leadership must be anchored in accountability, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to the will and welfare of both its people and citizens of the EAC regional bloc.”