Police launch investigations to identify looters during Nairobi CBD protests

What began as a call for justice has, once again, left entrepreneurs picking up the pieces,  quite literally.  Police say they have launched investigations to identify the looters caught on tape vandalising shops in the CBD.

Shots of Nairobi CBD, shuttered shops, broken windows, looted store shelves

Broken glass, ransacked shelves, and silence where once business bustled. This is the grim aftermath left behind in Nairobi's CBD, a day after demonstrators took to the streets, demanding justice for Albert Ojwang’, a young man who was murdered in police custody under unclear circumstances.

What began as a peaceful protest quickly degenerated into chaos. Phone shops, fashion boutiques, and electronic stalls, prime targets for looters hiding behind the veil of the search for justice.

Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations combed through the destruction this morning, taking statements, collecting evidence. But for many traders, this is déjà vu.

They say it's a familiar script, every time the streets erupt in protest, small businesses pay the price. Some have barely recovered from the last wave of chaos.

"We understand the pain behind these protests. We do. We ask the government to also protect our businesses," Evans Orwa, a trader, stated.

Beyond the shops, the destruction was widespread. County government officials have condemned the vandalism of vital infrastructure — traffic lights uprooted, trash cans set ablaze, street lights destroyed.

"We respect the right to demonstrate, but destruction of public property only worsens the crisis. We urge for responsible action," Geoffrey Mosiria- Nairobi County Spokesperson noted. 

In the central business district, resilience is the only option. Shopkeepers have returned to their stalls, cleaning up, salvaging what they can, bracing for the next protest, and hoping, perhaps in vain, that this time will be different.  

Yesterday’s calls for justice for the late Mwalimu Albert Ojwang left more victims in its wake. As the nation reflects on the troubling death of Albert Ojwang’, the cries from Nairobi’s shop owners grow louder, urging authorities to protect the right to protest and to protect their livelihoods.