September 29, 2001: The government chose a novel way to demonstrate its support for the fight against terrorism. President Moi took to the streets to lead demonstrators in a protest march, the first time ever during his presidency. The President, accompanied by Vice-President George Saitoti, police chief Philemon Abong’o, Nairobi Provincial Commissioner Cyrus Maina, among other dignitaries, led the march from the former American embassy to the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The protest route took the President through Moi Avenue, up City Hall Way and on to KICC grounds where he addressed the demonstrators. A terrorist bomb in August 1998, blamed on Islamic extremists, damaged the American embassy, flattened a building and led to the loss of more than 200 Kenyan lives. Thousands others were injured. The mournful tunes struck by the Kenya Police band set the mood of the procession, which brought together marchers from the University of Nairobi, the Nairobi Kanu Youth Group, Nairobi Matatu Terminus Association and women groups from various constituencies in the city.

Photo|Nation Syndication