Police fired tear gas to disperse Saba Saba protesters in Nairobi
July 7 – At least eleven people were killed on Monday as Kenyan police clashed with demonstrators in Nairobi marking the 35th anniversary of pro-democracy rallies, the historic Saba Saba (meaning “seven-seven”) protests of 7 July 1990 which launched Kenya’s push for multi-party democracy.
The death of blogger Albert Ojwang in police custody last month has given the protests fresh impetus, fuelling anger against the authorities and bringing hundreds onto the streets.
Police fired teargas and water canon at advancing protesters in the Nairobi suburb of Kangemi, with one man later lying motionless on the road with a bleeding wound.
The suburb’s Eagle Nursing Home said six people had been admitted with injuries, and that two had died from gunshot wounds. A source at Kenyatta National Hospital said it was treating 24 injured people, but did not elaborate on their injuries.
Kenya’s police said 11 people had died nationwide, while 52 others had been injured. It did not say who was responsible for the killings.
“Preliminary reports indicate fatalities, injuries, damage to motor vehicles, and several incidents of looting,” police said in a statement.
Law enforcers have been deploying heavily in Nairobi since youth-led protests in June 2024 that initially focused on tax hikes but expanded to cover issues such as corruption, police brutality and unexplained disappearances of government critics.
In a scathing report, the state-run Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KHRC) accused the police of using excessive force, as had frequently been the case during the current wave of protests.
“Police operated in plainclothes and unmarked vehicles” on Monday and collaborated with “armed criminal gangs in Nairobi, Kajiado, Nakuru, Kiambu, and Eldoret”, it said. The police have denied previous such accusations.
It added that it had evidence that at least two people had been abducted, as well as reporting 29 injuries and 37 arrests in towns across the country.
The KNCHR also said it saw “numerous hooded officers, not in uniform, travelling in unmarked vehicles”.
A court order requires police to be easily identifiable following allegations that plain clothes police fired live rounds at demonstrators last year.
Local media said there had been demonstrations in the towns of Nyeri, Embu and the lakeside city of Nakuru, where half a dozen police on horseback dispersed stone-throwing protesters.
Police had blocked major roads leading into Nairobi and restricted traffic within the city, leaving streets deserted but for the demonstrators, who arrived on foot. Most schools and at least one shopping mall were shut in anticipation of trouble.
