Kenyan police threw a security ring around Nairobi on Tuesday, setting up roadblocks on the city's main arteries as the country braced for Saba Saba demonstrations. Checkpoints went up on Jogoo Road, Mombasa Road and Thika Road, and the access points around Parliament were sealed off with wire barricades.
The date carries heavy historical weight. July 7 marks 36 years since the 1990 Saba Saba uprising, when Kenyans rose against the one-party state and demanded multiparty democracy. The anniversary has since become an annual occasion for citizens to take to the streets over government human rights abuses.
Last year's commemoration turned deadly. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights reported that "38 people died, with at least 130 others nursing injuries across the country" during the 2025 demonstrations.
This year, the authorities and organisers went into the day at odds over the protests' legality. Nairobi Regional Police Commander Issa Mohamud declared the planned demonstrations unlawful, saying police had received no formal notification from organisers — a step the law requires before public demonstrations can proceed.
The organisers told a different story. The Grassroots Economic Justice Movement said it had submitted formal notice to Inspector General Doglas Janja and to security agencies. The group's plan called for roughly 3,000 participants to march from Jeevanjee Gardens to Parliament, where they intended to hand over a petition demanding government action on extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.