Dozens of ​Kenyans took to the streets on Thursday under heavy security in memory of protesters killed two years ‌ago when massive anti-government demonstrations erupted in Nairobi over proposed tax hikes and the surging cost of living.

Organisers had planned remembrance marches in the coastal city of Mombasa and the capital Nairobi to mark the anniversary of the June 25, 2024, unrest, ​when protests escalated dramatically and protesters breached parliament grounds before a security crackdown left dozens dead.

On the ​eve of the marches, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen warned that anyone seeking to engage ⁠in “chaos, looting, destroy property, disrupt businesses, or commit any other criminal acts” would face “the full force of the ​law,” adding that investigators were already looking into reports of people mobilising gangs and securing weapons ahead of ​the anniversary.

Dozens of marchers turned up in Mombasa escorted by security forces while Nairobi’s streets appeared largely deserted as police set up roadblocks with water cannons and mounted a razor wire barricade outside parliament.

Shops and restaurants within the central business district, ​the site of previous protests, remained shut on Thursday.

“Today we remember our comrades who died in the ​demonstrations,” John Maina, 26, told Reuters in Nairobi. “They were not fighting for any profit, that is why we remember them, it’s ‌not ⁠a protest, it’s a remembrance.”

In Nairobi, opposition leaders joined victims of alleged police brutality and families of slain protesters in a march towards parliament to place flowers and candles outside the building.

Brian Musyoka, a 37-year-old motorbike taxi driver, told Reuters the shutdown was adding to the economic pressures faced by ordinary Kenyans.

“There is not much work, I may not ​make anything to cover ​the loan that paid ⁠for this electric bike,” he said.

–Reuters–