Commuters and passengers travelling overnight were left stranded at checkpoints set up over 10km from the city centre, with only a handful of vehicles being allowed in. In Nairobi, razor wire has been strung across streets heading to key government buildings — including State House and the Kenyan Parliament.
The police responded in a statement released on Sunday evening, explaining their constitutional responsibility to safeguard life and property and to ensure public order.
Youth- and Civil-Led Protests
The protests on Monday, called Saba Saba — Swahili for 7 July — were held in commemoration of the 1990s pro-democracy campaign that led to the end of one-party rule in Kenya. Protests this year, largely led by the young people, have called for better governance, greater accountability and justice for victims of police violence.
The demonstrations are part of a larger anti-government movement that has been gathering steam since last year. At least 19 people were killed and thousands of businesses looted and burned during a nationwide protest on 25 June, when people took to the streets to commemorate the victims of anti-tax rallies last year.
Recent months have seen violent demonstrations. Civil society organisations blame infiltrators known as "goons" for provoking chaos, looting and assaulting peaceful demonstrators. They claim possible cooperation with the police, which the authorities have denied.
Symbolic Date and Rising Tensions
Tensions rose further on Sunday when a group of armed men attacked the headquarters of the Kenya Human Rights Commission in Nairobi. The NGO was holding a press conference by women calling for an end to police brutality before Monday's protests.
Saba Saba this year is being held 35 years after the original 1990 protests, a pivotal uprising that helped bring Kenya out of single-party authoritarian rule into multiparty democracy. When, under President Daniel Arap Moi, the first protests were suppressed, with dozens of people arrested and at least 20 people killed.
For Kenyans today, Saba Saba is an enduring expression of civic resistance and continuing struggle for democratic rights in the Kenya. The latest spate of protests is an indication of rising anger at the state of governance, the behaviour of the police and the state of civil liberties in the country.
