Unbowed: How June 25 protests are unfolding across the country

Streets across major Kenyan towns erupted in black-clad defiance on Wednesday, as Gen Z-led protests marked the first anniversary of last year’s deadly anti-Finance Bill demonstrations.

From Nairobi to Mombasa, Eldoret to Kisii, young people flooded the streets chanting, lighting bonfires, and confronting police officers in a powerful show of resistance against the government.

In Nairobi, the city centre turned into a battle zone by midday. Protesters gathered near Parliament in defiance of road closures and heavy police presence, chanting “Ruto Must Go” and “Reject Finance Bill!” despite waves of teargas and police reinforcements in armoured trucks.

Dressed mostly in black, the demonstrators linked arms and pushed back against officers attempting to scatter them. One protester yelled, “They want us to fear, but we are not afraid,” as others banged road signs and waved placards.

Former Chief Justice David Maraga joined the marchers in Nairobi and urged peace while calling out the government’s heavy-handed response.

“These people are peaceful, and what I have told them—and I continue telling them—is to have a peaceful demonstration. That’s what is important,” Maraga said while addressing journalists on Kimathi Street. He condemned the state for barricading Parliament Road, where families had hoped to lay wreaths in memory of protest victims.

As protests raged in the capital, Eldoret experienced its shutdown. Hundreds of youth began marching from the main market, winding through town until they were met by a hostile group described as goons armed with clubs.

Police quickly moved in to form a human barrier between the two sides on Oginga Odinga Street, while businesses shut their doors as tension soared.

Protesters later lit fires and barricaded parts of Namanga Road with stones, chanting anti-government slogans as police fired teargas in an ongoing standoff that lasted hours.

Kiambu’s Ruiru Subcounty witnessed bonfires lit at the Tatu City junction on Thika Road.

In Embu, protesters lit fires around the Cylet area, closely watched by anti-riot police. Bungoma saw smaller gatherings, with a group assembling at Chwele market.

In Kisumu, the situation remained calm, with minimal protest activity and normal operations continuing in most government and commercial establishments.

In Mombasa, demonstrators started the day with a mass at the ACK Cathedral on Nkrumah Road, before marching through the city to the Mapembeni area along Moi Avenue. Holding placards and chanting, they honoured those killed in last year’s protests. Most city shops stayed closed as marchers flooded the streets.

Kisii saw heated scenes as well, with protesters lighting bonfires and engaging police in running battles. Thick smoke from burning tyres filled the air as police tried to regain control of the roads. In Nyeri, large crowds turned out peacefully, joining in the national wave of protests.

Meanwhile, in Makueni, protesters blocked the Mombasa-Nairobi Highway and set up burning barricades, prompting police to respond with tear gas. Similar scenes were reported in Kitengela town in Kajiado, where roads were blocked and traffic paralysed.

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The Namanga–Nairobi Highway was obstructed with stones, halting transport.

Despite the varying levels of intensity, the message from protestors remained the same: they will not be silenced. “We are not here for violence,” said one demonstrator in Nairobi. “We are here for our future.”