Police Roadblocks Prevent Planned Nairobi Marches on Protest Anniversary

Kenyan police mounted roadblocks on Thika Road, Kiambu Road, Jogoo Road, Outering Road, and routes to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport on June 25, 2026. Officers also blocked matatus from entering the central business district via Lang'ata Road and Mombasa Road by 6:40 a.m. and halted long-distance buses at Uthiru 87 Junction.

Access points into the CBD were sealed at the Bunyala Roundabout and other locations, stranding hundreds of commuters. Several bus operators, including Guardian Bus Services, suspended travel to and from Nairobi. Streets inside the CBD remained largely deserted through the morning.

The restrictions coincided with the second anniversary of the June 25, 2024, demonstrations against a Finance Bill. Youth-led protesters had stormed Parliament that day, an event followed by crackdowns that left dozens dead nationwide and more than 120 dead overall. The first anniversary in 2025 recorded at least 16 deaths and over 400 injuries.

Gen Z activists, civil society groups, opposition politicians, and victims' families had planned marches to Parliament under the banner "Justice for Our Shujaas" to lay flowers and demand accountability. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen stated on June 24 that June 25 would remain a normal working and school day.

President William Ruto urged Kenyans to continue normal activity and warned that any mobilization "to destroy property or cause chaos" would not be tolerated.

The government established a roughly $15 million compensation fund for 1,100 people affected by political violence between 2017 and 2025. -backed Ebola quarantine facility, and a women-led march took place in Nairobi demanding that gender-based violence be declared a national crisis. Young people also gathered in Mombasa to commemorate those killed in the 2024 demonstrations.