MAKUENI, Kenya — Stones, smoke, and a statement. That’s how Wote Town in Makueni County woke up this Saba Saba morning, as demonstrations kicked off with roads blocked and a massive bonfire blazing at the heart of the town.
Photos shared online show a fiery barricade stretching across one of Wote’s key roads — stones piled high, thick black smoke rising, and protesters standing their ground.
The message? Gen Z led Saba Saba protects are nationwide.
Inspired by the national wave of youth-led Saba Saba protests, demonstrators in Wote joined the movement demanding government accountability, an end to police brutality, and respect for constitutional rights.
While most of the national attention has centered on the lockdowns in Nairobi and Mombasa, this rural resistance is a sign that the fire — quite literally — is spreading.
And just like in Nairobi, where 16 major roads were sealed off despite a court order, or in Mombasa where shops stayed shuttered and riot police flooded the streets, Wote’s protesters are pushing back against what they see as creeping state suppression.
There were no police checkpoints in sight — but the roads were just as closed. This time, not by the government, but by the people themselves.
In contrast to the state-erected roadblocks in the capital, the blockade in Wote is entirely grassroots.
The original spirit of Saba Saba — the July 7 pro-democracy movement that helped usher in multipartyism in the 1990s — has found new energy in this generation of digital-first, civic-minded youth. In Wote, that spirit now burns in the middle of the road.
This isn’t just about traffic. It’s about being seen. Heard. Counted.
Whether the government will listen is still unclear. But from the sealed highways of Nairobi to the flaming roadblocks of Makueni, one thing is certain — this year’s Saba Saba isn’t confined to history books. It’s playing out in real time, in towns and streets across the country.
