Kenyan security forces launched a sweeping crackdown, arresting 355 people across the East African nation on Thursday.
Demonstrators flooded the streets of Nairobi to honor the dozens killed during historic anti-government protests two years ago.
The somber anniversary quickly transformed into a volatile arena of defiance and heavy-handed state response.
Police deployed stinging tear gas and powerful water cannons to shatter the peaceful crowds gathering near the parliament building.
Grief met a wall of iron as activists tried to lay delicate flowers where sixty citizens fell in 2024.
Shops shuttered and steel roadblocks choked the central business district, turning the bustling capital into a heavily fortified zone.
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen labeled the detained citizens as criminals while defending the aggressive, disruptive security measures.
Yet, a simmering undercurrent of public discontent over rising fuel prices and deep political divides remains unquenched.