Hundreds of Kenyan youth were left stranded on Sunday, July 6, after police blocked their return journey to Nairobi from the Summer Tides Festival in Diani, Kwale County.
The incident unfolded at the Dongo Kundu Bypass near Likoni, where scores of festival-goers were stopped by police from proceeding to catch the afternoon Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train back to the capital.
According to activist Hussein Khalid, who posted footage of the standoff, police officers cited “orders from above”, claiming the youth would likely join Monday’s Saba Saba protests in Nairobi.
“Now police are curtailing freedom of movement! Hundreds of youth from Nairobi who had attended the Diani Summer Tide Festival have been stopped… police are saying if allowed to proceed, the youth will go to Nairobi and attend Saba Saba,” Khalid wrote on X.
He decried the move as a blatant violation of the Constitution, questioning the state’s authority to police personal movement based on assumptions.
The stranded youth, visibly frustrated, were seen chanting anti-government slogans in videos that have since gone viral.
This development comes amid rising tension nationwide as Kenya braces for Saba Saba Day, a national day of protest rooted in the historic 1990 movement that pushed for multi-party democracy.
While President Ruto’s government has insisted Monday is a normal workday, Public Service CS Geoffrey Ruku has warned civil servants against skipping work, threatening disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) was attacked by armed goons on Sunday, disrupting a press briefing by mothers pleading with authorities to end police brutality during protests.
