Kenya arrests more than 350 on anniversary of deadly 2024 protests
Kenyan authorities detained 355 people across the country on June 25 as demonstrators marked the second anniversary of the June 2024 protests, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said . Police dispersed crowds with tear gas and water cannon, set up roadblocks, and prevented mourners from laying flowers at Parliament — the site stormed during the original unrest.
The 2024 demonstrations, led by young Kenyans against a finance bill raising taxes, ended with security forces opening fire and killing at least 60 people. Two years on, families of the dead and activists are still pressing for credible investigations into police conduct and accountability for the use of lethal force. President William Ruto has allocated 2 billion Kenyan shillings (about $15.5 million) for abuse victims, a sum activists call inadequate.
The heavy deployment signals a government determined to prevent a repeat of 2024 — but blocking commemorations and making mass arrests on the anniversary itself risks reinforcing the grievances over policing that drove the protests in the first place, against a backdrop of continuing discontent over the cost of living.