The first report, released Tuesday by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), a public yet independent institution, indicated 31 deaths. Today's updated data puts the death toll at 38.

This is the highest death toll since protests against President William Ruto began more than a year ago and shook the East African country.

On Monday, the day of “Saba Saba” (“Seven, Seven” in Swahili, a reference to the pro-democracy uprising of July 07, 1990), police mobilized in large numbers cut off the main access roads to Nairobi, the country’s capital, whose streets were empty.

Clashes between police and protesters erupted on the outskirts of the city. The KNHRC announced in a statement that the number of "casualties now stands at thirty-eight" and that another 130 were injured.

According to the commission, the three cities with the highest number of victims are Kiambu (eight), Nairobi (six), and Kaijado (six). On Tuesday, the UN declared itself "very disturbed" by the initial figures released the previous day, referring to "murders."

On Wednesday, President Ruto issued a strong warning against those seeking to “overthrow” the government and warned that police would open fire on “looters,” prompting a backlash from the main opposition party.

For a year now, Kenya has been experiencing a wave of protests, sparked in June 2024 by a controversial budget bill, particularly criticized by young people. The movement has been severely repressed by the police, and with this latest death toll, the number has now reached over a hundred.

Human rights organizations are denouncing the police's responsibility for the violence, the deaths of protesters, and the many forced disappearances.

On June 25, 2024, the KNCHR recorded 19 deaths that occurred in the demonstrations held in the previous days and which had already turned into clashes between protesters and the police.

In the days that followed, the government claimed to have "thwarted a coup," while protesters accused it of hiring gunmen to discredit their movement. The police violence tarnished the image of Kenya, which until now had been considered one of the few stable and democratic states in a troubled region.