The statue of Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi at the junction of Kimathi Street and Mama Ngina Street in Nairobi.
There are streets, then there is Kimathi Street. Tucked between Mama Ngina Street and Tubman Road, the street – formerly Hardinge Street – was to personify freedom and liberty.
However, the street named after legendary Mau Mau leader- Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi Waciuri, cannot seem to lie in silence.
The eponymous street has over the years stood out as the heartbeat of protests against the government in Nairobi’s city centre.
With a seven-foot statue of Kimathi resting on a bronze plinth on the lower end of the street, serving as a constant reminder of what a struggle against any oppression is, protesters have found a home in the street.
Fueled by the heroic acts of the freedom fighter, not even police presence can slow the street’s growing stature as the epicentre of protests in the Central Business District (CBD).
Thanks to playing host to Nation Media Group – the largest independent media house in East and Central Africa – the street is a magnet for demonstrators, only rivalled by Moi Avenue.
Dedan Kimathi statue on Kimathi street, Nairobi.
Pictures of protesters displaying banners communicating a message to the government have been a constant fixture along the street.
Encapsulated in a number of towering structures, the street is a symbol of peace and affluence on normal days with its pristine location in the heart of the city making it stand out as a vibrant location to conduct business.
But the 400-metre-long street is a juxtaposition of sorts. The street has a tendency to change its face within seconds.
Leaving behind its business hub tag, the street turns into a protest paradise with demonstrators engaging the police in a cat-and-mouse game.
Soon, the floating smell of fast foods, and other assortment of delicacies saturating the air from high-end joints straddling the street, is replaced with a thick white smoke from the constant lobbing of teargas.
On Tuesday, the street was heaving under palpable tension as demonstrators and police officers clashed during the ongoing anti-government protests.
With a police vehicle full of anti-riot officers stationed at the shoulder of Kenyatta Avenue acting as a motivation, the street knows it is only a matter of time before it is turned into an athletic tartan.
But here, there is no finish line as people run in every direction with the police, armed to the teeth, and protestors toying with each other.
What starts as a small hide-and-seek game, soon descends into a standoff before spiralling into full-blown chaos.
As if to give cue to other streets across the city, the fever soon spreads to other areas in the CBD like wildfire.
In the cat-and-mouse chase, servings of teargas become the order of the day as police lob the choking gas at any human being in sight, leaving the sky virtually white from the excesses of the teargas.
Youthful protestors mob a police vehicle along Kimathi Street in Nairobi during the Anti-Finance Bill protests on June 20, 2024.
The always busy street soon turned into a battlefield with sounds of shots fired by the police being a constant fixture.
A lull of five minutes would soon turn into heavy blankets of shots from the police as they repulse demonstrators who dash into every available alley to escape the choking teargas.
At some point, the police also become overwhelmed as protesters send back the teargas to unaware officers.
In the confusion of the hunter becoming the hunted, police officers were seen scampering for safety under the heavy smoke of teargas as they tasted a dose of their bitter pill.
