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Brute force for a scared government

Police officers on horseback engaged with demonstrators at the Free Area in Nakuru City during the Saba Saba protests on July 7, 2025. One officer was thrown off his horse. [Joseph Kipsang, Standard]

Police officers used everything they could find — razor wire, spike strips, boulders and crime scene tape — to block access to Nairobi’s Central Business District, effectively paralysing movement across the capital.

Motorists headed to the city centre were turned back at roadblocks, along with pedestrians. Distance travellers from all corners of Kenya were held outside the city and subjected to unwarranted searches. Many others, such as some young Kenyans who had attended a festival at the coast, were blocked from leaving on Sunday.

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