Dozens of young people arrested for ‘planning to loot businesses’
By Winstone Chiseremi, July 8, 2025More than 35 youths aged between 17 and 30 were arrested by riot police while allegedly attempting to engage in criminal activities at Huruma trading centre along the Eldoret-Webuye highway as Kenya marked Saba Saba day on July 7, 2025.
Police officers in several vehicles seized the youths and transported them to Eldoret Central Police Station, where they were locked up pending their arraignment on Tuesday.
The suspects had disguised themselves as protesters while planning to commit crimes, including looting business premises on the busy highway, said Uasin Gishu County Police Commander Benjamin Mwanthi.
Exit and entry points
Police on patrol who responded to distress calls from business owners whose premises were targeted.
Speaking to the media in Eldoret, Mwanthi said officers had been deployed in the centre of Eldoret to prevent looting.
“As you can see, there have been no Saba Saba protests within the town’s CBD because we managed to secure all exit and entry points,” Mwanthi said.
He asked traders who had closed their businesses to reopen, noting that there was no cause for alarm: “We have enhanced security patrols in Eldoret and its environs to avert hooliganism and looting of properties by criminal gangs masquerading as genuine protesters whose mission is to loot and cause mayhem on business premises.”
More than 30 armed police officers were deployed to a nightclub on the outskirts of Eldoret that was targeted during anti-finance bill protests in 2024.
Enraged Generation Z youths attacked the establishment, damaging property and stealing goods worth millions.