Police blocked major roads leading to Nairobi and heavily restricted vehicle traffic on Monday, Reuters witnesses and Kenyan media said, as the country braced for protests to mark the anniversary of pro-democracy rallies .
Activists rally each year on July 7 to mark the date in 1990 when opponents of then-president Daniel Arap Moi launched a bid to transform the country into a multiparty democracy. The protest is called Saba Saba - seven seven in Kiswahili - because of the date.
This years rally comes after largely youth-led protests in June last year that initially focused on tax hikes but expanded to cover issues such as corruption, police brutality and unexplained disappearances of government critics.
The government is committed to protecting life and property during protests, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said on his X account on Sunday.
Our security agencies are on high alert to deal decisively with criminals and other elements of ill intent who may seek to infiltrate peaceful processions to cause havoc, mayhem, or destruction of property, he said.
