Details of Zello App that has become key tool in anti-government protests

Since June 18, 2024, Kenyans led by Generation Z, have taken to the streets to protest the government's decision to raise taxes amid harsh economic times.

The protests which started on social media platforms such as X, quickly escalated to large-scale nationwide protests, taking place in more than 10 counties.

According to Rest of World, six protesters informed them that an app known as Zello, helped them find meeting points, evade the police, and alert each other on potential dangers.

Zello, developed by US Engineer Alexey Gavrilov in 2007, allows users to interact one-on-one, join public channels, and create private group conversations. The software company notes that it offers a free push-to-talk (PTT) walkie-talkie app for personal use, enabling users to share locations, pictures, and conversations with Contacts or within Channels.

Rest of World notes that data from the company revealed that between June 17 and June 25, Zello was downloaded over 40,000 times in Kenya, on the Google Play store.

On the Google Play store, it was the fourth most downloaded communications app on June 25, up from position 45.

Additionally, data from analytics firm Sensor Tower also showed that the app was ranked as the third most downloaded on Apple’s App Store in Kenya from June 19–24.

A company spokesperson told Rest of World that this was “well above our usual numbers,” but did not respond to further requests for comment.

While recounting her experience with the Zello app during the protests, Mercy, a 21-year-old university graduate, told Rest of World that she had planned to join a group of protesters marching to the Parliament building in Nairobi on June 25.

However, she received warnings on the app to turn back as police were shooting at protesters. She also received reports that a group of protesters had set a portion of the building on fire.

“Every time police officers lobbed tear gas at protesters, we would go in different directions, losing sight of our friends during the protests. But a group we had created on Zello helped us locate each other," she said.

Digital services experts and political analysts also believe that the app has significantly contributed to the effectiveness of these protests.

Political analyst and lecturer at the University of Nairobi Herman Manyora told the organisation that the ability to turn “phones into walkie-talkies” made a difference for the protesters, as mobilisation has always been the greatest challenge in organising previous protests in Kenya.

“The government realised that the young people were able to navigate technological challenges. You switch off one app, such as X, they move to another,” Manyora said as quoted by Rest of the World.

“None of us saw this coming. In this instance, however, what we saw was unprecedented in terms of the scale. The young people can use technology in a way the older generation did not anticipate," Moses Kemibaro, CEO of Nairobi-based digital strategy firm Dotsavvy Africa, told Rest of World.

The app has been utilised in various global emergencies and protests, including Venezuela’s 2014 anti-government demonstrations and the 2017 Texas hurricane rescue operations.

In 2017, protesters in Canada also used it to organise blockades, while the Russian government blocked Zello after a group of truckers used it to organise a three-week strike.

Despite its significance, people like Kemibaro believe the app’s usage will taper off as the protests subside across the country.

"Zello was the right product, the right platform, at the right time and scenario. I don’t know if it has the longevity to go beyond that,” he told Rest of World.