Kisumu experienced an unusual calm during the annual Saba Saba commemorations, with activists cancelling planned protests due to fears of infiltration by criminal gangs and a lack of government security guarantees.

• Activists cited fears for their lives, deaths, and injuries as reasons for staying off the streets, stating the government had failed to guarantee their security.
• Willy Otiende and Brenda Beverly of the Kondele Social Justice Center highlighted concerns over enforced disappearances and the weak implementation of laws addressing gender-based violence.
• The activists emphasized that the calm reflected fear rather than satisfaction, stressing the importance of citizens being able to exercise constitutional freedoms without intimidation.