25 June. A date that many Kenyans – particularly the younger generation, those who, as italian songwriter Giorgio Gaber sang, ‘perhaps with a touch of arrogance’ believed they could change Kenya – would like to see become a national holiday. Not that there aren’t already enough, mind you, but amongst the many anniversaries of former presidents and holy days of various religions, the commemoration of the victims of the anti-government protests of the last two years is certainly something that strikes a chord with them.
So today, the Kenya of Generation Z, of activists, of the opposition and of those who believe that even this government has not done enough to root out corruption and offer more hope to young people and the most disadvantaged sections of society, is taking to the streets on a date that is more than symbolic.
‘Peaceful demonstration’, it says everywhere, but once again nobody believes it. Not because those who applied for permission to march aren’t peaceful, but because the risk of infiltration is almost greater here than on the roof of a house rebuilt after the L’Aquila earthquake.
What’s more, there are the rioters from the slums, for whom any opportunity is a good one to loot shops, attack cars and take it out on the police.
And that is precisely what everyone hopes not to see again today: scenes of urban warfare, clashes and violence that have nothing to do with the sacrosanct right to demonstrate and the even more sacred right to mourn those who are no longer with us, especially if they were victims of abuse.
During the protests of summer 2024, human rights organisations recorded 67 fatalities, hundreds of arrests and more than a hundred extrajudicial disappearances. Sometimes these were lightning-fast abductions; at other times, journeys from which there was no return.

This year has already seen the first police arrest, on the eve of the national demonstration. The activist Bob Njagi, one of the leaders of the ‘Gen Z’ movement, has been accused of inciting demonstrators to protest. Njagi made the headlines for having been abducted and then released by the Ugandan police during the trial of one of President Museveni’s opponents, Kizza Besigye. It is unlikely we will see him on the streets today, alongside the country’s most famous human rights activist, Boniface Mwangi, who himself has a long history of arrests and sudden abductions. Mwangi has also recently announced his candidacy for president in next year’s elections and insists that today’s demonstrations will be peaceful.
The Minister of the Interior and National Security, Kipchumba Murkomen, is also keen to believe this, having stated that schools and shops will remain open and that it will be a normal day. However, he also warned that anyone who does not demonstrate peacefully, but instead brandishes sticks, stones or even machetes, will face the full force of the law. Let’s hope this statement can be interpreted as ‘they will be prevented from infiltrating the demonstration’ rather than ‘first we’ll let them mingle with the peaceful demonstrators and then we’ll beat them up left, right and centre’.

All that remains is to wait and see in which other cities and towns, apart from the capital Nairobi and the traditional opposition stronghold of Kisumu – where protests began yesterday, with citizens armed only with placards and banners and the police ready to intervene if necessary – the protests will take place.
In other counties, shopkeepers are tending to close their shutters (where they have them) anyway, to avoid the familiar incidents of assaults and thefts. Otherwise, we’ll end up having to set aside a day to remember the victims of theft and looting – citizens who simply preferred to go about their work. Which, despite everything, is also a right.