Over 20 arrested during Saba Saba march in Mathare, Kayole

Over 20 protesters have been arrested during a Saba Saba match in Nairobi's Kayole and Dandora areas on Tuesday morning.

The protesters who were marching from Kayole and the Eastlands areas were teargassed by police as the arrests took place.

Protesters in Mathare and Kiamaiko areas were also not spared during the arrests.

Mathare, Kariobangi, and Dandora areas where civil society groups had designated as starting points were sealed off early on Tuesday. 

The leaders of the groups who included Kayole SJC's Faith Kasina, Maryanne, Lena Anyuolo, Habil Omar, Kibera Social Justice Centre's Editar Ochieng were also arrested and taken to Kariobangi police station on Tuesday morning.

Nine others are said to have been arrested and are currently being held at the Kayole Police Station.

The officers moved in to disperse the group who were marching in the area before they arrested some of them.

The annual #SabasabaMarchForOurLives was being held from all the venues with Social Justice Centers that is Kayole, Komarocks, Dandora, Kariobangi, Korogocho, Ruaraka, Githurai, Kiamaiko, Kibera, Mathare, Kamukunji, Mukuru, makadara and Kiambiu.

Activists rally each year on July 7, marking the date in 1990 when opponents of late president Daniel Arap Moi launched a bid to open up multiparty politics.

The protest is called “Saba Saba” - “seven seven” in Swahili - because of the date.

This year, protesters have been galvanised by mounting accusations of police brutality during the coronavirus lockdown.