At least one person has been shot in Mukuru kwa Njenga, Nairobi County, as protests during Saba Saba Day took a violent turn on Monday, July 7.
Videos and images obtained by Kenyans.co.ke show fellow civilians assisting the injured man to a medical centre.
Notably, the shot individual, identified as Dennis, did not appear to be in immediate life-threatening danger.
He was reportedly shot by a rubber bullet, which hit him on one of his limbs, rendering him unable to walk.
A witness who spoke to media after the incident confirmed that the shot individual was among those who were fleeing from police when he was hit.
"There were running battles between us and the police. Dennis was running by the roadside and by bad luck got hit by the rubber bullet," the witness said.
On Monday morning, most roads leading to the Nairobi CBD were rendered impassable, with anti-riot police cordoning off major arteries in a deliberate attempt to quell any attempts by protesters to engage in demonstrations.
While the initiative appeared to work at first, protests were reported in several estates in Nairobi and its environs, including Kitengela, Ngong, and Kiserian, among others.
The situation was also extremely volatile in Kangemi along Waiyaki way, as protesters turned violent, prompting police to resort to the use of firearms and teargas cannisters to disperse them.
In Mukuru, youth also turned out in fairly large numbers as tensions between civilians and law enforcers threatened to escalate. Meanwhile, Jogoo Road was blocked off from motorists for the better part of Monday.
Kitengela arguably had one of the worst cases of skirmishes on Monday, with protesters lighting bonfires and blocking major roads with rocks.
Despite the heavy smoke from the tear gas that filled the air, the youths continued to engage the police in a cat-and-mouse game, remaining unbowed.
The use of a rubber bullet on the civilian in Mukuru was seemingly in line with Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen's statement on Sunday, where he urged police officers to exercise restraint during Saba Saba Day.
In Kitengela, one person was caught in the path of a water cannon and despite sustaining minor injuries, he was seen marching towards anti-riot police, who could be seen pleading with him to retreat.
Similar scenes were witnessed along Thika Road, as tens of youth bearing the Kenyan flag attempted to negotiate with police to allow them a way through.
Despite running battles in sections of the country, incidents of escalating violence and looting have been limited, with several individuals reportedly getting apprehended in Eldoret as police upped their efforts to quell any mayhem on Monday.
On Sunday evening, the National Police Service had warned that authorities would deal with all armed protesters as per the law should they be arrested with weapons during the protests.
