Overview
- On Thursday, June 25, Nairobi and other cities saw a large security deployment that included roadblocks, razor wire, plainclothes officers and water‑cannon trucks and left the central business district largely deserted.
- Police fired tear gas to disperse small commemorations, detained people trying to lay flowers at parliament and the Interior Ministry reported 355 arrests across the country.
- The government has rolled out a reparations package of about 2 billion Kenyan shillings to compensate roughly 1,100 identified victims but many families say money cannot substitute for prosecutions.
- Independent watchdogs say prosecutions are limited: the Independent Policing Oversight Authority reported only three of 62 protest‑related deaths from 2024 have reached court and Human Rights Watch says at least 41 people linked to protests remain missing.
- Rights groups and journalists have documented the use of hired 'goons' alongside police during past unrest and analysts warn the security‑first approach risks shrinking civic space and raising election‑year tensions ahead of 2027.