Society News

Kenya seals off Nairobi on the Gen Z protest anniversary: roadblocks, tear gas, arrests

Kenyan police staged a massive show of force on Thursday, June 25, to block protests marking two years since the 2024 Gen Z uprising, when demonstrators against economic hardship and corruption stormed parliament and forced new taxes to be dropped. Roadblocks shut key routes into Nairobi, and schools and businesses closed.

Africanews, carrying AFP, described long lines of police wagons, horse patrols, plainclothes officers and barbed wire around government buildings. In a second report it said protesters ran for cover as gunfire rang out and police fired tear gas. President William Ruto said people have a right to protest but warned against anyone “mobilized to destroy property or cause chaos.”

Kenya's The Standard said police fired tear gas in Githurai, scuffles broke out at a wreath-laying near Parliament, and more than 30 people were arrested in Kitengela. Ruto had announced a Sh1.94 billion fund to compensate 1,100 people harmed in protests, but families rejected it.

“What we want is accountability.” — James Otieno, via The Standard

Malaysia's The Sun also carried AFP's report on the police blocking the anniversary.

How each outlet framed it

• Africanews — the security lockdown and Ruto's unpopularity, quoting analyst Gabrielle Lynch.
• The Standard — road by road, with arrests, missing people and grieving families.
• The Sun — an Asian pickup of the AFP account.

Where the numbers differ: AFP cited a police watchdog: at least 127 killed over two years of protests. The Standard said the 2024 protests left more than 120 dead; Civicus Monitor, via Africanews, counted more than 60 killed and 82 disappeared in 2024.