Demonstrations broke out in Nairobi’s Central Business District on Thursday morning as victims of previous anti-government protests and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) health workers took to the streets over separate concerns.
The UHC workers marched to press the Ministry of Health to absorb them into permanent, pensionable employment and pay gratuities for the six years they have worked under the programme.
They said years of engagement with the government without secure jobs have placed them under financial pressure, insisting that they must be taken on permanently.
The health workers carried placards as they moved through the city centre toward the Ministry of Health offices.
Meanwhile, a separate group of protest victims marched to Jogoo House to submit a formal request seeking approval to take part in a peaceful procession planned for June 25, 2026.
The victims’ delegation was led by Siaya Governor James Orengo and People’s Liberation Party’s Martha Karua, who later held brief consultations with Police Spokesperson Muchiri Nyagah.
The victims want to take part in a commemoration honouring those who died during the June 2024 anti-government protests, stressing that the planned march will remain peaceful.
The development comes barely a day after protest victims urged the government to publish a complete list of those affected during the earlier demonstrations before compensation is issued.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, June 16, the Coalition of Victims and Survivors Against State Violence (CVSSV) said President William, arguing that victims need direct recognition for the suffering they experienced.
They said that while the government’s move to set up a reparations programme was progress, it must be matched by transparency, accountability and prompt compensation.
“No apology can erase the bloodshed, trauma and pain inflicted on people whose only crime was exercising their constitutional right to peaceful protest,” Joshua Okayo, an abduction survivor, said.
The reparations programme includes a Ksh2 billion compensation fund intended to address more than 1,100 claims involving loss of life, injuries, torture, abductions, enforced disappearances and other violations.