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Title: Teargas and Tuxedos: A Nation Divided as Budget Meets Protest


The simultaneous occurrence of two starkly different events on the same day—Finance Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi reading the 2025/2026 budget estimates and protesters demanding justice for slain teacher Albert Ojwang—offers a haunting snapshot of Kenya’s fractured state.

As national television broadcast a split-screen of the day’s events, the contrast was jarring. On one side, well-dressed officials in tailored suits paraded with the iconic budget briefcase. On the other, tear gas filled the streets, water cannons raged, and young people—angry, unemployed, and disillusioned—clashed with riot police. It was more than symbolic. It was a brutally honest depiction of two Kenyas: one of privilege and power, and another of pain and protest.

To many, especially the youth, the budget announcement was irrelevant—if not insulting. Rather than addressing the core crisis of unemployment and social inequality, the budget is widely perceived as a continuation of the very system that has failed them. Grand figures and lofty projections do little to alleviate the hopelessness that defines life for many young Kenyans. In fact, these estimates are often seen as enablers of entrenched corruption, giving cover to the deals and kickbacks that enrich a few at the expense of the many.

The government’s tone-deafness to public sentiment—especially on a day when citizens were mourning and mobilizing over a senseless killing—only widens the chasm. The state’s priority seemed clear: fiscal pageantry over human life, optics over justice.

If there was ever a moment that captured the urgent need for reform, unity, and empathy from our leaders, it was this one. The budget may have been read, but the message from the streets was louder.


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