Kenyan police fired tear gas and water cannon in Nairobi on Monday to disperse demonstrators marking the 35th anniversary of the country’s landmark pro-democracy protests.
The annual rally, known as Saba Saba (“seven seven” in Kiswahili), commemorates the July 7, 1990 protests that challenged the one-party rule of then-President Daniel arap Moi and helped usher in Kenya’s multiparty democracy.
This year’s gathering comes amid rising political tensions and public anger over tax hikes, police abuses, and the deaths of activists in custody. In anticipation of unrest, authorities deployed security forces across the capital, shut down major roads, and heavily restricted vehicle movement. Several schools and at least one shopping mall closed preemptively.
A Reuters reporter saw officers deploy tear gas and spray water cannon to break up crowds near a central Nairobi artery, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered, some blowing whistles and chanting.
“We are not ready to go back home. Who will fight for our rights then?” said Francis Waswa, a construction worker. “We will be here till evening.”
Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen, writing on X, said security forces were “on high alert” to prevent criminal infiltration of otherwise peaceful processions. Last month, Murkomen described the protests as “terrorism disguised as dissent.”
Tensions escalated over the weekend after unknown individuals stormed the offices of the Kenya Human Rights Commission to disrupt a scheduled press briefing. One board member was injured, according to KHRC staffer Ernest Cornel.
Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The death of blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang in police custody in June has fuelled fresh outrage. The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said 19 people were killed in nationwide protests on June 25.
Prosecutors have charged six individuals, including three police officers, with Ojwang’s murder. All have pleaded not guilty.