A police officer was seriously injured in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) on Wednesday during tense confrontations between police and demonstrators marking the first anniversary of the Gen Z-led June 25, 2024, protests.

The female officer, part of a contingent deployed to monitor the commemoration protests, sustained a severe head injury under unclear circumstances along Banda Satreet where chaos had broken out.

In a rare act of solidarity, protestors swiftly came to her aid, lifting her into a nearby St. John Ambulance even as clouds of tear gas choked the streets and chants for justice echoed through the city.

Among those who helped the injured officer was Hussein Khalid, CEO of the human rights organisation Vocal Africa, who said the incident underscored the human toll of the day’s events.

“We’re unsure whether it was a tear gas canister or a stone that hit her, but what matters is that protestors stepped in to save her life,” Khalid said.

The confrontation erupted as demonstrators took to the streets in honour of over 60 Kenyans who lost their lives during the 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests that saw Parliament dramatically stormed a moment now etched in Kenya’s political memory.

Despite calls for peaceful processions, parts of the CBD descended into chaos, with running battles between protestors and anti-riot police.

Tear gas canisters were fired indiscriminately, and some roads turned into flashpoints.

Similar scenes played out in Kitengela and on sections of the Thika Superhighway, where protestors clashed with officers, blocked roads, and hurled stones.

Elsewhere in the country, the mood varied. In Kisii and Nyeri, protestors lit bonfires and burned tyres, while Mombasa witnessed peaceful demonstrations with police escorting the crowds in a rare show of coordination.

Wednesday’s protests were not just a commemoration, they were a renewed cry for justice, accountability, and an end to police brutality.

A year since the bloodshed of 2024, no officer has been held accountable for the deaths, a fact that continues to enrage Gen Z demonstrators and human rights activists.