#RejectFinanceBill2024 (Kenya), #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria (Nigeria), #EndCorruption, #March2Parliament (Uganda), #StopGalamseyNow (Ghana) are some of the hashtags that African Gen-Zs have used to mobilise and organise protests in recent months against corruption, draconic government policies and bad governance in their countries.
Gen-Z (Generation Z) is the term used to describe people born between 1997 and 2012; they come after Generation Y (Millennials) and preceding Generation Alpha. The years that Gen-Z was born correspond with significant technological, social, and economic changes. They were raised in an age of social media, smartphones, and the internet.
Since the advent of social media, new media has given citizens the voice to hold their government accountable. It has also created more citizen journalists who can report and vent their grievances against the government’s unfavourable policies.
This article highlights some of the protests that have taken place in the last few months with the help of social media.
#EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, #EndSARS protest (Nigeria)
Since the first day of President Tinubu’s administration, Nigerians have been facing untold economic hardship with the infamous declaration that the president’s “subsidy is gone”. A few hours after the declaration of “subsidy is gone”, there was a sudden rise in the price of fuel, leading to the ripple effects of the high inflation rate. The president didn’t stop there; he floated the currency, significantly devaluing the naira. This naira devaluation resulted in high prices of imported products. As if that was not enough, the government increased school fees across all the higher learning institutions, causing many students to drop out. While Tinubu’s government admonished the people to “tighten their belts”, the president embarked on a voyage of lavish spending such as the purchase of an N150 billion presidential jet, N9.2 billion state house vehicles, N5 billion presidential yacht, N21 billion renovation of the Vice President’s official residence, N160 million Sports Utility Vehicles for each lawmaker, N90 billion subsidy for hajj, 1.5 billion naira cars for the office of the First Lady and many more amidst economic hardship created by this administration.
As a result, citizens protested with the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, which later metamorphosed into street protests across major cities in the country in August. The protest was the second biggest in Nigeria in the space of four years after the #EndSARS protest.
#EndSARS protest started online for several months due to police brutality before it also metamorphosed into a street protest for two weeks. The protest eventually led to the disbanded of the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SAR), famous for brutality and human rights abuses.
As the government failed to address the demand for the August protest, another protest has been slated for October 1st with the hashtag #FearlessInOctober.
#RejectFinanceBill2024 in Kenya
This is the biggest protest in Kenya in recent years. Kenyans have long harboured frustrations about the country’s economic situation and the government’s seeming indifference to the needs of its people, but the abrupt uprising took the government off guard.
It started when President Ruto sent a finance bill to the national assembly. The purpose of this finance bill is to impose more taxes on the people.
Before that, the government removed subsidies on fuel and other consumable items, imposed a 5% increase in tax for high-income earners, deduced a 3% levy housing levy from the income of employees and employers, and made a 16% VAT proposal on bread and “eco-tax”, among other taxes.
Though it was asserted that while the Finance Bill was the catalyst for the protests, other, more general grievances with Kenyan governance played a significant role. These included harsh criticism of well-paid parliament members and executive organs accused of living in luxury while admonishing the populace to endure austerity, similar to the Nigerian situation.
Dissatisfied with the seeming hardship of what this draconic policy has caused, young Kenyans gathered to voice their grievances by leveraging the platform provided by social media. Throughout the weekend of June 15, the hashtag #REJECTFINANCEBILL2024 gained popularity, with many people using it to advocate for protests. Numerous videos detailing the devastation that government policies were creating went viral on TikTok. Thousands of people demonstrated on June 18 ahead of the Finance Bill’s second reading in parliament, forcing President Ruto to withdraw the bill.
Not only did the president withdraw the bill, but he also announced cost-cutting measures to reduce the cost of governance. He reshuffled his cabinet and held a Twitter Space to engage with Kenyans, attended by tens of thousands of people.
#EndCorruption, #March2Parliament in Uganda
In July, inspired by Kenya’s Gen-Z protest, young people in Uganda mobilise for protest under the hashtag #Match2Parliament to demand the resignation of Speaker of Parliament Anita Among together with four members of the parliament who together embezzled $460,000 under the guise of ‘public service’ and therefore demands for the review of the lawmakers’ earnings.
Uganda has numerous high-profile corruption scandals involving public officials, and the nation is ranked a dismal 141 out of 180 in Transparency International’s corruption index.
Online posters promoting the protest called demonstrators to “march on parliament” using the hashtags #EndCorruption #Match2Parliament.
Numerous demonstrators brandishing placards were bundled into police vans.
“We are protesting against escalating levels of corruption in Uganda. I was marching to demand Anita Among step down because she has been embezzled from this nation. These resources belong to the taxpayers; they are not hers.” Said Salim Papa, one of the protesters arrested by the police.
“No drugs in hospitals, bad roads. Kampala is the pothole capital, and this is because of corruption. We are tired.” lamented Kirya Samson, one of the arrested protesters.
While mobilising for protest, President Yoweri Museveni, who has ruled the country with an iron fist for over 40 years, had warned the protesters that they were “playing with fire”.
The US and the UK sanctioned Speaker Among in May due to allegations of corruption and abuse of office.
#StopGalamseyNow, #FreeTheCitizens in Ghana
Ghana’s economy has grown very slowly during the last four years, and many people there have experienced extreme hardship.
The youth unemployment rate has surged, electricity and water tariffs have increased dramatically, and the cedi has become extremely weaker against the dollar. Many businesses have failed because operating costs have exceeded profit, and now illegal mining, or galamsey, is rapidly destroying natural water bodies.
The consequences of Galamsey pose a significant threat to national security. They ruin water resources and seriously endanger the health of the populace.
As a result, young people in Ghana demand an end to illegal mining and economic hardship under the hashtag #StopGalamseyNow. Galamsey is a term used in Ghana for illegal gold mining.
Instead of acceding to the demand of the protesters, as it’s the characteristic of many African leaders to respond to protests, security forces were used to subdue the protesters, and many were arrested.
Numerous young Ghanaians have resorted to social media sites such as X, TikTok, and Instagram to call for the immediate release of the 39 demonstrators, using the hashtags #FreeTheCitizens and #FreeTheYouths.
Additionally, they are urging international organisations and media to utilise their clout and influence to combat galamsey and ensure that Ghana is a secure nation for everyone, including foreigners.
A world without social media: how youths were mobilised for social change
Social movement organising in the 1980s and 1990s compared with the social media-driven organising we have nowadays is like comparing warfare in the mediaeval era of swords, clubs, bows and arrows with modern warfare of artillery barrage, aerial bombardment, machine-gunning, cluster bombing, etc.
The old style was highly engaging, involving, and personal face-to-face, while the new methods can be highly impersonal and distant. But what is lacking in the personal and involving warfare of yore is made up by the mass reach of the digital era.
A single message on X with necessary amplification can reach thousands in minutes, though a few scores might respond. Old-style engagements relied primarily on leafleting, graffiti on walls, and other means, such as articles pasted in conspicuous spaces. Also important were mass meetings, symposia, public lectures, and workshops. To make campaigns national, a lot of travel was also required.
Gbenga Komolafe, a young Nigerian activist in the 1980s, said, “We used to have Comrades who were perpetually on the move, holding meetings with radical student groups, sharing information with them, and helping to cement horizontal linkages all over the country. At their most elevated, the traditional media, newspapers, Radio, and TV, also help to amplify campaigns. But some visibility must have been achieved before that.”
“We would travel in the night bus to mobilise people with leaflets and posters, especially during Nigeria’s June 12 and anti-SAP struggle during Nigeria’s military president Babangida’s regime. We also had a much more vibrant and organised student movement, which makes it easier to organise campus rallies and mobilise students to the streets for protest, and other youths would have no choice but to join,” stated Baba Aye, another young Nigerian activist in the 80s/90s.
“Apart from the leaflets and posters, we also released newsletters and publications with a series of workshops, symposia, seminars, all of which were physical and effective to galvanise people for protests”, he emphasised.
