A tense atmosphere is slowly building up in Nairobi’s Central Business District as the number of protesters rises amid a heavy police and KDF presence on the streets.
Pockets of demonstrators have regrouped at road intersections after being dispersed earlier in the day and are now sizing up security personnel and taunting them to bring it on.
Several long-distance public transport vehicles that operate along Taveta Road could be seen leaving in a hurry, while business owners watched from a distance as a group of rioters barricaded River Road.
Planners of the Occupy Parliament protests announced last week that they would march to State House on Thursday. However, their plans were thrown into disarray after President William Ruto declined to sign the contentious Finance Bill, 2024, and wrote to Parliament asking MPs to delete all clauses.
It was largely expected that with the new development, the protesters would call off the march. But on Wednesday night, planners of the civil disobedience, comprising mostly influential Gen Z social media users, were sharply divided on whether or not the demos should proceed as planned.
While some were against the idea of marching to State House, others argued that stopping the march would be counterproductive and a betrayal to their already dead comrades “who died in the line of duty.”
