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Kenya’s security forces blocked any attempts to protest on Saba Saba Day, a day historically associated with the pro-democracy movement.
At least three people were detained in Nairobi on Tuesday.
The meaning of 'Saba Saba' is ‘Seven Seven’ in Swahili—that refers to the seventh day of the seventh month.
In 1990, Kenyans revolted against Daniel arap Moi’s one-party state, and the pressure that followed helped force the return of multiparty politics in 1991.
This date is important for Kenyan dissent from that day. When the Kenyan public has complaints about their government, Saba Saba Day is more crowded. Specifically, the crowded anti-tax movements in June created a belief about the size of the protestors for Saba Saba.
This year, a group of fewer than 10 people managed to gather in the center of Nairobi, the capital, but they were stopped by police while they were trying to give a speech. An Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist saw at least three people bundled into an unmarked car and a police wagon.
The public gathered in the last two years against corruption, economic problems, and police violence under Ruto’s government.
According to figures from the police watchdog, 127 people were killed during the protests in two years. The protests happened around the same time for both, in the June-July period.
Wanjira Wanjiru, of the Mathare Social Justice Centre, told AFP, "There's a general sense of exhaustion," according to that history.
Also, President William Ruto attacked The Standard newspaper for its negative coverage of his governance.
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