• The almost-forgotten glory of SabaSaba comes  back to life this July.
  • The original protests of 1990 saw the whole country stand up to demand free elections in a defiant display of rage never seen before.
  • The clamour of Sabasaba and the subsequent political fire that followed, saw the repealing of the infamous Section 2A, restoring Kenya back to a multiparty state.
  •  This year's protests have seen a change of face, with young people taking to the streets in a clamour for accountability and better governance. 
  • Despite a return to abductions and extra-judicial killings under the banner of 'an independent' police force, Gen Z's say 'No relent, No Surrender.'


SabaSaba, a name that has been prancing on the blurry lines of commemorable and erased over the last dozen years, comes to life this July.

The name, so powerful that it was prohibited, was born of the July 7, 1990 countrywide protests to demand free elections. A Saturday when Kenyans arose to display mass defiance and rage against the political system for the first time.

The protests were organized by the late Kenneth Matiba and the late Charles Rubia, who were detained prior to the actual protest day in 1990—a time when arrests, torture, and extra-judicial killings of activists against the Moi regime were rampant. 

The now historic Kamukunji grounds were the venue for the original Sabasaba demonstrations. Despite police harassment of protesters, Nairobi and other towns were rife with defiant youths. Scores were killed, and over 5000 others were arrested countrywide.

The clamour of Sabasaba and the subsequent political fire that followed, saw the repealing of the infamous Section 2A, restoring Kenya back to a multiparty state.

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This year, 2024, Gen Z protesters have brought the Sabasaba spirit back to life, with countrywide protests against Finance Bill 2024 rocking the whole country in June, and spilling over into July.

Like the original protests of 1990, this year's protests have seen a change of face, with young people taking to the streets in demand for accountability and better governance. 

With the state seeing a return to arbitrary arrests, secret abductions of protesters and extra-judicial killings, the fight closely mirrors that of multipartysm.

'No relent, No surrender,' says a new generation of tribeless, partyless protesters, having made history on June 25, 2024, by invading Parliament buildings. 

As July 7 inches closer, Sabasaba ghosts come back to haunt in a new series of '7-days of justice' with the government maintaining austerity, under the banner of 'an independent' police force.