Police clampdown costs Nairobi economy Sh10.4b

A protester in Nakuru jumps over a bonfire along the Nairobi-Nakuru Highway near the Free Area trading center. [Joseph Kipsang/Standard

The closure of businesses on Monday may have cost Nairobi City County an estimated Sh10.4 billion, as economic activity ground to a halt following a heavy police blockade of the capital.

For a city that seldom sleeps and is typically bustling at sunrise, Nairobi’s streets were eerily deserted for much of Monday amid planned protests to mark Saba Saba Day. The only notable activity involved police vehicles on patrol and plainclothes officers roaming the streets on foot.