On Thursday, March 30, police officers used water cannons to spray protesters with pink-dyed water during the Azimio-led protests in Pipeline, Nairobi County.
Spraying protesters with dyed liquid is a trend witnessed in various countries worldwide, with police using the products to spot protesters afterwards easily.
One of the earliest records of pink dye in water cannons is in 1997 when South Korean and Indonesian police used it to disrupt demonstrators.
This was during the anti-China protests in Hong Kong, where people protested the introduction of a bill that amended the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, which would allow the extradition of Hong-Kongers to mainland China if they committed a crime.
Apart from pink, other usual colours used in water cannons are blue and purple. In 2019 and 2020, Hong Kong police officers used blue-dyed water to identify and detain protesters.
The stain and difficulty in washing off help the police spot protestors hours after the protest.
In Africa, dyed water has deterred South Africa, Egypt, and Uganda protesters.
One of the most prominent uses was in South Africa in September 1989 during anti-apartheid protests.
The protest rallying cry was “The Purple Shall Govern” after anti-apartheid protestors took control of the water cannon and sprayed purple water on the ruling party’s offices.
Instead of dyed water, some water cannons have sprayed chilli water that irritates the skin.
In 2019, Chilean police were accused of using caustic soda in water sprayed on water cannons to have an itchy effect on the skin of protestors. However, they denied this allegation.
