A UK-based civic group has issued a blistering open letter to Kenyan leaders, warning that the country is approaching a moment of reckoning amid rising public anger, deepening inequality, and unfulfilled promises by those in power.
In the statement titled “From Independence to Now: A Nation Stalked by State Violence — The Hour of Reckoning is Coming,” the Justice and Equity Council (UK Chapter) accuses Kenya’s political establishment of betraying the very citizens it swore to serve.
The group — chaired by Sebastian Onyango, with Janet Sutton as Secretary and Rose Nyarkasiringi as Organising Secretary — describes the current administration as “a grotesque display of arrogance, deceit, and contempt for the people.”
“Hii serikali ni ndoto mbaya — this government is a nightmare,” the letter quotes a matatu passenger in Nairobi. “But not all nightmares end in despair. Some awaken the sleeping giant that Kenya has long been.”
The Council argues that since independence, Kenya’s political elite has perfected “the art of betrayal,” recycling promises of jobs, unity, and reform every election cycle, only to revert to greed, tribalism, and plunder once in power.
“Political parties,” the statement continues, “have ceased to be ideological homes and become tribal vehicles for patronage and power. Parliament has turned into a marketplace where votes are traded for cash and contracts, while governors mirror the same rot at the county level — miniature monarchs ruling through intimidation and handouts.”
The opposition, the Council laments, has lost its moral compass, trading its watchdog role for “handshakes and boardroom deals” with those it should be holding to account.
While the letter accuses the political elite of self-enrichment and populism, it also draws attention to the widening gap between government spending and public suffering. It points to ballooning budgets for the Presidency and Parliament — reportedly up by over 50 percent — even as hospitals detain patients for unpaid bills, universities close down, and schools lack KSh 3.3 billion in capitation funds for poor children.
“A nation cannot sustain such levels of inequality and impunity,” the letter warns. “The people will eventually realise that salvation will not come from recycled politicians or tribal alliances, but from themselves — through civic awakening and accountability.”
Invoking memories of the optimism that followed the 2002 elections, the Council says the spirit of reform still lives in the hearts of ordinary Kenyans, even if buried under layers of disillusionment.
“Nightmares awaken giants,” the Council writes. “The pain of over-taxation, corruption, unemployment, and endless poverty may finally stir Kenyans from their slumber.”
In a pointed conclusion, the statement foresees a political and social upheaval if leaders continue to ignore the people’s cries.
“There will be a reckoning,” it declares. “The political class may not see it coming, but the giant is stirring — slowly but surely. Call it the Gen-Z revolt, call it the tribal revolt — but it is coming.”
The Justice and Equity Council (UK Chapter), a diaspora advocacy group championing good governance and accountability in Kenya, says it will continue to rally citizens at home and abroad to demand transparency, social justice, and respect for the rule of law