Nairobi residents opt for early activities ahead of planned protests

After a five-day break, the Azimio coalition leaders are expected back on the streets to lead protests, as earlier announced.

For the second time, Nairobi will be among the counties to watch since the Azimio leaders announced that their followers will first converge at Kamukunji grounds.

A spot check by The Standard has established that, unlike other days when there are demonstrations by some residents, some arrived very early at the city centre to avoid any inconveniences during the day.

Some roads were busy as early as 6:00am as residents thronged bus stops to board matatus to various destinations.

Earlier, there had been some fears that matatus would be unavailable on the roads since a section of them had threatened to strike challenging the government over the retest of drivers.

"People were in stages today much earlier than usual, I think they want to avoid any inconveniences during the bday," Alex Kimathi, a matatu driver along Mombasa road, told The Standard.

"We are happy that the government has suspended the retests because it is unfair to some of us who have been driving for over ten years," he added.

Along Mombasa Road, several people who work in the nearby industries were spotted heading to their workplaces in large numbers.

Other roads, including Lang'ata Road, Ngong Road, Jogoo Road, and Thika Road, were busy.

In estates, some parents were spotted accompanying their children to schools, while school vans picked up others.

Even so, some schools, by last evening, had alerted the parents that normal learning would be suspended until Thursday.

By 6:30am anti-riot police officers were stationed at various entrances to the city centre among them National Archives, Railways, Uhuru Park Junction, Ngara areas and around University Way

Notably, several parking spaces in the city centre remained unoccupied, mostly in the uptown.

Downtown remained a beehive of activities with some shops, supermarkets, and hotels serving as usual. Nearby markets among them Muthurwa and Wakulima markets remained busy as usual.

The opposition has insisted that the protests are aimed at pushing the government to address some issues, among them the high cost of living, fuel prices, and skyrocketing prices of basic commodities.

Photos by Pkemoi Ng'enoh.