Nairobi County remained largely peaceful despite the youth scheduling a protest to occur on Thursday, July 4, in a campaign dubbed ‘Seven Days of Rage.’
The city streets were clear of any indication of a looming protest by Thursday afternoon despite an obvious police presence albeit significantly downsized from the one witnessed on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.
Most businesses in the city were open while the human traffic in the town remained low with many fearing being caught in the battle between protesters and the police.
A spot check by a local TV station revealed that Moi Avenue known as one of the main battlegrounds for protesters and police remained peaceful.
The calm comes amid claims by political leaders and human rights activists that the peaceful demos had been hijacked by hired goons.
Demos hijacked by goons
On Wednesday, July 3, 2024, ODM leader Raila Odinga said that the government should arrest sponsors of goons who hijacked the protests and caused mayhem.
“What started as an expression of disaffection with the government by young Kenyans through peaceful protests and presentation of petitions to authorities degenerated into chaos and mayhem yesterday,” Odinga said.
He added: “The scenes of people looting, vandalizing and robbing were different from what was witnessed at the start of the protests when the Gen Z were in complete control of the process and its programs.”
Narc-Kenya equally said the goons were out to scuttle the progress of the peaceful demos which had achieved the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024.
Karua stated that the recent protests witnessed reduced heavy-handedness by the police compared to the peaceful demos organised by legitimate demonstrators against the Finance Bill 2024.
“Media reports indicate that scores are nursing gunshot injuries today further that the heavy police presence did not deter goons from looting, this suggests that the goons are literally given cover to loot and that police are deliberately targeting peaceful protestors as a means of deterring further protests,” Karua observed.
In the Tuesday demos, suspected criminals destroyed business structures in the city centre and looted businesses along major streets.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki promised to go after sponsors of the demos which led to the destruction of critical infrastructure.
“The organisers of today’s orgy of violence in parts of Nairobi, Mombasa and several other parts of the Country are reportedly planning to repeat their anarchic chaos and cruel plunder again on Thursday and Sunday this week, and perhaps much more frequently in the future,” Kindiki said.