On June 25, 2024, Kenya witnessed a rupture in its post-2002 political consensus. What began as resistance to the Finance Bill—a set of regressive taxes backed by the IMF and marketed as “fiscal reform”—rapidly escalated into a nationwide revolt. The initial mobilizations, led primarily by young people outside of formal party structures, coalesced around a rejection of the rising cost of living, state corruption, and elite impunity. Within days, the protests spread from Nairobi to other urban centers. That afternoon, demonstrators breached the parliamentary compound. Security forces responded with lethal force. Dozens were killed, while hundreds were abducted, detained without trial, or tortured. Though President William Ruto ultimately withdrew the bill, that concession did not resolve the deeper political crisis. By then, the protests had evolved into a broader denunciation of the state’s coercive apparatus and the hollowness of the country’s democratic institutions.