NAIROBI, Kenya — At least ten people have been confirmed dead and dozens more injured following a wave of anti-government protests that swept across Kenya on Monday, July 7, coinciding with the 35th anniversary of the historic Saba Saba demonstrations.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), a state-run watchdog, reported that the deaths occurred as police opened fire on demonstrators in multiple towns. A doctor at Eagle Nursing Home in Kangemi, Dr. Aron Sikuku, told the BBC that two gunshot victims brought to the facility succumbed to their injuries, while crowds of protesters gathered outside the hospital demanding to reclaim the bodies.
The protests, largely driven by Kenya’s Gen Z youth movement, were organized to demand government accountability, better governance, and an end to police brutality. Demonstrations erupted in at least 17 of Kenya’s 47 counties, including Nairobi, Nakuru, Eldoret, Kiambu, and Kajiado, despite a heavy security clampdown that saw roads blocked and city centers sealed off with razor wire.
Security forces responded with tear gas, water cannons, and, in several locations, live ammunition. Eyewitnesses and human rights observers accused police of operating in plainclothes and allegedly collaborating with armed gangs to intimidate and disperse protesters. The KNCHR reported at least 29 injuries, 37 arrests, and two abductions linked to the protests.
Among the incidents, a shopping complex in Makutano, Meru County, was set ablaze, and in Ol Kalou town, one protester was killed while another sustained serious injuries. In Kamukunji, Nairobi—where the original Saba Saba protests were staged in 1990—demonstrators clashed with police in fiery street battles.
A planned appearance by opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga was canceled due to security concerns. “The roadblocks all over town made it difficult for people to reach Kamukunji,” Odinga said, though he took the opportunity to slam the “rogue police force that shoots people with impunity,” and urged for a national dialogue on security reforms.
Odinga, who was arrested during the original 1990 Saba Saba protests under President Daniel Arap Moi’s regime, had more recently allied with the government. Monday’s protests were seen as a potent revival of civic resistance, echoing the spirit of the pro-democracy movement that dismantled Kenya’s one-party rule in the early 1990s.
In the capital, commuters and long-distance travelers were stranded for hours, some parked as far as 13km from downtown Nairobi. “We started our journey at 8:30 pm last night, only to be stopped here,” said bus driver Humphrey Gumbishi. “We want the government to engage Gen Zs so this can end.”
The recent unrest builds on a series of anti-government actions that escalated last year, including a deadly June 25 protest in which 19 people were killed and thousands of businesses vandalized during an anti-tax demonstration.
On the eve of the Saba Saba anniversary, an armed gang stormed the Nairobi office of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) during a press conference organized by women activists. According to KHRC spokesman Ernest Cornel, the attackers—riding motorbikes and chanting anti-protest slogans—stole valuables, including laptops and phones, and warned that protests would not be tolerated.
Monday’s events marked yet another turning point in Kenya’s turbulent political journey, highlighting the growing discontent among its youth and the deepening demand for accountability and reform from the country’s leadership.
