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The service, held under the banner, “Lest we forget,” came ahead of the 2nd national anniversary set for 25 June.
Leaders read out names of those killed in the protests, and remembered the unidentified alongside the undocumented and the missing.
“Today, we stand in solidarity with these families. We stand in solidarity with every young person whose dreams were cut short. We stand with every Kenyan who continues to carry the pain and memories of that dark season in our nation,” said Rev. Chris Kinyanjui, general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, and Rev. Kepha Nyandega, general secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, in a news statement released after the memorial service.
While honouring the lives lost and affirming human dignity and the worth of every citizen, the memorial prayed that a situation where people die for seeking to express themselves would never recur in the country.
“We must all never forget that the reason why these Kenyans died was that we were unwilling to listen to one another,” said the leaders.
Gen-Z, organizing on digital platforms such as X, Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram, had poured into the streets carrying mobile phones and miniature flags to reject a finance bill. The law proposed increasing taxes on basic commodities such as bread, fuel, and mobile money transfers.
Initially peaceful, the protest turned violent and culminated in the storming of parliament. The law was later shelved and a cabinet reshuffle was announced, but the police had responded with brutal force, killing at least 60 individuals, according to the government's official death toll.
Hundreds of others were injured, either after suffering gunshot wounds or being crushed with batons and other crude weapons.
“The families of the…require more than prayers and money. They require justice,” said the leaders, while urging taking of responsibility for redemption, and a thorough, impartial, and transparent accountability.
Rev. Jackie Makena, a theologian from the Methodist Church in Kenya and vice moderator of the World Council of Churches Commission of Faith and Order said the memorial had gathered under a sacred and painful banner.
“We gather not as strangers, but as a wounded nation. We gather not only to mourn, but to remember, and in remembering to awaken our conscience,” said Makena in the memorial’s sermon. “Kenya stands in a… courtroom. The blood of young people cries out from the ground. The voices of those lost in the Gen Z protests of 2024 and 2025 echo in our streets.”
The theologian told the churches that they could not hide behind religious rituals while injustice prevailed in the country.
“We cannot sing hymns on Sunday and ignore the cries of the oppressed on Monday. We cannot pray for peace while tolerating systems that produce violence,” she said.
The cleric said the killing of young people was an injustice, the loss of children was a tragedy, femicide was a national sin, and the exploitation of children was an abomination.
The scenario called the people not to despair, she said, but to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. She told Kenyan youth to not turn grief into hopelessness and not allow anger to destroy their destiny.
“You are not just a protesting generation. You are a prophetic generation,” she said.
The churches back a proposed government restorative justice under which affected persons will receive financial compensation, but also warn that restorative justice must never be used to cover the needs for retributive justice.
