From 6 to 27 June 2024, young people, social media influencers, civil society advocates, medics, journalists, and human rights defenders took to social media and to the streets in a show of solidarity for the anti-government protests in Kenya. People held simultaneous protests in 34 out of Kenya’s 47 counties.
On 25 June 2024, President Ruto deployed the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) onto the streets of the country to quell unarmed civilian protesters from exercising their right to picket. Members of parliament allied to the president held a secret parliamentary session on 26 June and retroactively approved the deployment of the KDF. In recent years, the Kenyan military has been deployed in matters relating to public emergency, election processes and ethnic clashes across the country. In this case, people were opposing the June 2024 parliamentary sitting, arguing that it did not follow the official procedure, as the session’s agenda was not tabled in parliament 7 days prior as required by law, the representation of parliamentarians taking part lacked transparency, and the sitting was held without media access as required by Article 124 (4)C of the Constitution of Kenya 2010.
‘In July 2024, the protests changed focus in recognition of the famous Saba Saba protests. The young “Generation Z” protests, which became known on social media as the #RejectFinanceBill2024 movement, are fuelled by the Saba Saba spirit,’ said Mugambi Kiai, ARTICLE 19 Eastern Africa Regional Director. ‘History truly does repeat itself. On 7 July 1990, a wave of outrage swept across Kenya against the then president and ordinary citizens took to the streets – same as today.’
On 7 July, 1990, the Saba Saba movement in Kenya was birthed by political agitation from citizens plagued by poverty, injustice, government officials’ disregard for human rights, and a lack of free public participation in national affairs. The opposition politicians who organised the protests, Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia, were arrested on 4 July, 1990, just days before the planned protest day. Other organisers, including human rights advocates and journalists, were arrested, badly beaten up and detained by the then President Moi, who was widely regarded as a tyrannical dictator. The Saba Saba protests forced President Moi to announce the repeal of Section 2A of the Constitution in December 1991, returning Kenya to a Multiparty State after 10 Years. In present-day Kenya, the Saba Saba movement is acknowledged annually and protests are organised by human rights defenders and the civil society community in Kenya.
Thirty-four years later, on 1 July 2024, the government’s response to the nationwide protests and use of force by the police had led to 39 persons being killed, 361 persons injured, 32 cases of enforced disappearances and at least 627 protesters being arrested. In the Saba Saba week of 2024, civilians focused on honouring all affected during the #RejectFinanceBill2024 protests in June, including by visiting assault survivors in hospitals and hosting a national memorial concert on 7 July 2024 in Nairobi.
‘Thirty-four years since the first Saba Saba protests in 1990, the government continues to use the police and other security forces to subdue political dissent and unlawfully disband protests in Kenya,’ added Mugambi. ‘The killings, beatings, disappearances and arrests are against the Constitution of Kenya and human rights principles. Police response to protests should be treated as a historical injustice. The government has always used violent force to silence dissent.’
For better public order management in Kenya, any progressive interventions must start with the law and agencies responsible for implementing change must be held to account. The ARTICLE 19 Free To Protest campaign advocates for proactive amendments to the Public Order Act of 1950 in promoting a human rights-centred approach to the policing of protests in Kenya. We aim to foster constructive relationships between law enforcement agencies and the community, thereby collectively safeguarding and upholding the constitutionally-guaranteed right to demonstrate and picket.