By Pascal Ndegwa - Reporter
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Kenya, October 20, 2026 - As Kenya marked Mashujaa Day in Eldoret on Tuesday, President William Ruto spoke about the hard-won rights secured by independence heroes, the Constitution, the rule of law and the duty of today’s generation to protect equality for all.
At the same time, activists and motorists were organising or carrying out protests over rising fuel prices and the high cost of living.
In his speech, the President recognised that Kenyans, especially young people, and their role in the society as a reminder that an election victory does not silence citizens between elections. Citizens keep the right to question their government, challenge its decisions and demand better. Leaders, he added, must listen, respond and remain answerable.
That message sits alongside the day’s deeper theme. Mashujaa Day honours those who fought for freedom and handed the country its Constitution and the rule of law. Ruto and other leaders framed the present moment as one in which Kenyans themselves must now carry the responsibility of ensuring equality and fairness.
The fuel protests unfolding on the same day raise a direct question. When citizens march or plan demonstrations over the price of petrol, diesel and kerosene, are they doing exactly what the President described as a constitutional right and a necessary part of holding power to account? Or do the protests reveal a gap between the language of rights and equality spoken on the national stage and the daily economic pressures felt by ordinary people?
Recent fuel price increases have sharpened the tension. The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority raised the cost of super petrol, diesel and kerosene, citing higher import costs. Motorists’ groups, civil society organisations and activist coalitions have responded with threats of peaceful demonstrations, calls for an audit of the government-to-government fuel deal, demands to suspend VAT on petroleum products and appeals for measures that cushion households. In some places the frustration has already spilled into action.
These actions sit squarely within the rights the President affirmed. The Constitution protects freedom of assembly, expression and the right to petition government. Protesting high fuel prices is one practical way citizens exercise those freedoms when the cost of transport, food and basic goods rises.
In that sense, the demonstrations can be read as Kenyans taking up the responsibility Ruto described, refusing to stay silent between elections and insisting on fairness in the economic sphere.
Yet the contrast remains striking. On a day set aside to celebrate national heroes and constitutional values, the same country is dealing with public anger over the price of fuel. The speech celebrates rights and equality. The streets show citizens using those rights to demand relief from economic pressure.
Whether the protests ultimately advance equality or simply express immediate hardship is a question that will be answered by how the government responds and whether the concerns about transparency, pricing and the cost of living are addressed in concrete ways.
Mashujaa Day therefore arrives this year as both a celebration and a mirror. It honours the past struggle for rights while testing whether those rights, and the call for equality, are being lived out in the present.