Kenya police fire tear gas on anniversary of pro-democracy protests

Kenyan police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters in the capital Nairobi on Monday as they marked the 35th anniversary of pro-democracy rallies.
Activists rally every year on July 7 to mark the date in 1990 when opponents of then-president Daniel Arap Moi launched a bid to transform the country into a multiparty democracy. The protest is called “Saba Saba” – “seven seven” in Kiswahili – because of the date.
Authorities have ramped up police deployments in Nairobi since youth-led protests in June 2024 that initially focused on tax hikes but expanded to cover issues such as graft, police brutality and unexplained disappearances of government critics.