Business owners in the Nairobi Central District woke up to massive losses on their premises Thursday following massive destruction and looting during Wednesday’s demonstrations.
Apart from Nairobi, destruction of property and looting were reported in Thika, Nyeri, Olakalau, Ongata Rongai, Othaya, Kikuyu and Karatina.
Businesses were looted during the protests called to mark a year since June 25, 2024 when protesters opposed the Finance Bill 2024.
The protests on Wednesday turned chaotic, with property being looted and destroyed.
At least ten people were killed during the demonstrations in incidents reported in Matuu, Nairobi, Ongata Rongai, Molo and Olkalau.
A spot check showed that many business premises were destroyed, windows smashed and broken into by supposed criminals who infiltrated the demos.
In Nairobi along Moi Avenue, several shops were destroyed and others broken into. Many other shops were affected during the chaos on major roads like Luthuli Avenue, Tom Mboya Street, River Road, Ronald Ngala Street and adjacent ones as police focused on protesters uptown.
Similar attacks happened in Kawangware area. Massive destruction and looting also happened at OTC.
Quickmart OTC and nearly shops were broken into and looted.
At the OTC roundabout, a business premise hosting Moonstar Hotel was torched. Smoke was still billowing from the building on Thursday morning.
One operator thare said she incurred losses in excess of Sh800,000 after her shop was broken into.
“I didn’t know this will happen because the government had assured us of security. I don’t know where to start from here,” said a shop owner at the premises.
The situation was similar on many operators who came back to the city to find their premises looted. This is even as business activities resumed in the city after the demos that saw nearly all businesses closed.
Transport activities also resumed normally, unlike Wednesday when police barricaded several roads leading to the CBD.
Police believe that had a group of protesters from Kiambu town made it to the Nairobi city centre during the June 25 protests, things would be different. The city could have been overrun to the ground, officials say.
Officials are commending detectives at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for stopping what they termed as anarchy during the protests.
Also being commended are teams in Juja, Ruiru, Githurai and General Service Unit headquarters. They managed to stop crowds that had originated as far as Thika Town aiming to arrive Nairobi.
Their destination was either City Hall, Parliament or at least State House, oblivious of the dangers that lay in waiting.
As teams of police were fighting to contain the protesters that had managed to arrive in the Central Business District, larger crowds were battling with teams along Kiambu Road and the entire Thika Road.
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