Toll from anti-government memorial marches in Kenya rises to 38
The KNHCR, an independent yet state-funded rights body, had previously given a tally of 31 deaths.
Protesters react amid clouds of tear gas fired by Kenya police officers during clashes at Saba Saba Day demonstrations in Nairobi on July 7, 2025. Picture: SIMON MAINA / AFP.
NAIROBI, KENYA - At least 38 people were killed at anti-government protests commemorating a 1990 uprising against autocratic rule in Kenya, the country's National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR) said on Friday.
The updated toll makes Monday the deadliest day of demonstrations since the beginning of the youth-led protests against President William Ruto, which have shaken the east African country for more than a year.
The KNHCR, an independent yet state-funded rights body, had previously given a tally of 31 deaths.
Kenya has been grappling with waves of protests from people angry over economic stagnation, police brutality and corruption, with the marches at times degenerating into violence and looting.
Monday's demonstrations saw clashes between protesters and police on the outskirts of Nairobi, though a hefty security deployment kept the marchers out of the capital's centre.
In the wake of the chaos, Ruto ordered officers to shoot protesters in the leg if they engaged in looting, and warned against attempts to "overthrow" his government, in his toughest remarks yet on the unrest.
"The Commission observes that the death toll has now risen to thirty-eight (38) people," a KNCHR statement said on Friday, adding that at least 130 people were injured in Monday's demonstrations.
With eight dead, the southern city of Kiambu saw the most victims, followed by the capital Nairobi and Kajiado to the south with six each, the commission said.
The demonstrations began in June 2024 as a youth-led anti-taxation protest, which subsequently forced the government to withdraw a contested finance bill.
The protesters were repressed by the police with a heavy hand, with Monday's deaths bringing the total toll to more than 100 killed.
Rights groups have pointed the finger at the police for the violence, as well as for the number of protesters who have disappeared in the demonstrations' wake.
Marchers meanwhile, accuse the security forces of hiring armed criminals to chase protesters and paying vandals to discredit their movement.
Kenya's long-running issue with police violence has tarnished the image of a country considered to be a beacon of stability and democracy in a troubled region.