NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 24 \u2013 Activists have insisted that Thursday\u2019s nationwide demonstrations commemorating victims of the Gen Z protests will proceed as planned despite warnings from security agencies and government officials.<\/p>\n
The protests are expected to mark the anniversary of the June 25 anti-government demonstrations and honour those who lost their lives during last year\u2019s unrest and the wider 2024 Gen Z movement.<\/p>\n
Speaking during a press briefing, the organisers said the demonstrations would remain peaceful and constitutional, accusing the government of attempting to intimidate Kenyans from participating.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are commemorating fellow Kenyans who lost their lives. Demonstrating is a constitutional right and we will proceed peacefully,\u201d activist Nyanjom Joshua said.<\/p>\n
The activists called on Kenyans, particularly in Nairobi, to turn out in large numbers to demand justice and accountability for victims of protest-related violence.<\/p>\n
At the same time, they warned against alleged attempts to deploy criminal gangs to infiltrate and disrupt the demonstrations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are asking anyone planning violence or disruption to stay away. This is meant to be a peaceful commemoration,\u201d activist Stephen Ouko stated.<\/p>\n
Organisers urged demonstrators outside Nairobi to hold peaceful vigils near police stations while carrying flowers and Kenyan flags as symbols of remembrance.<\/p>\n
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) official Fredrick Ojiro encouraged protesters to maintain peace and avoid destruction of property or confrontation with police officers.<\/p>\n
The activists also advised participants to document events using mobile phones, livestreams and hidden cameras to capture any incidents during the protests.<\/p>\n
However, police have maintained that they have not received formal notifications authorising demonstrations in Nairobi and warned that security officers would respond firmly to any attempts to disrupt public order.<\/p>\n
Nairobi County Commissioner Simon Osumba said law enforcement agencies were fully prepared ahead of Thursday\u2019s planned protests.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know there are individuals who may try to take advantage of the situation to cause chaos, but security agencies are ready,\u201d Osumba said.<\/p>\n
Central Police Station OCPD Patrick Gogo urged Kenyans to continue with their normal activities, assuring business owners and residents that adequate security measures had been put in place.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, organisers in Mombasa said they had formally notified police of their planned demonstrations, with documents reportedly acknowledged by authorities last week.<\/p>\n
Security sources also revealed that top-level meetings had been held in Nairobi to coordinate deployment plans ahead of the protests, with officers instructed to heighten surveillance in areas considered volatile.<\/p>\n
The planned demonstrations come amid growing political tension and renewed calls for justice, accountability and police reforms following last year\u2019s deadly protests.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 24 \u2013 Activists have insisted that Thursday\u2019s nationwide demonstrations commemorating victims of the Gen Z protests will proceed as planned despite warnings from security agencies and government officials. The protests are expected to mark the anniversary of the June 25 anti-government demonstrations and honour those who lost their lives during last year\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144700\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}