There was a mixture of tense and calm in the Nairobi Central Business District(CBD) on Thursday October 16, 2025 as most business operators closed shops over fears of looters masquerading as mourners breaking into businesses.

Since early in the morning, no incident of lawlessness had been witnessed, except a few people marching, carrying twigs, wailing and whistling as they mourned former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. 

Several groups would be seen carrying twigs, marching towards Parliament Buildings in anticipation of viewing the body.

At about 10 am, some businesses along Moi Avenue, however, started to close shops or open halfway,  saying there are no customers and also fear that mourners might turn into looters as it happened on Wednesday when a shop along Moi Avenue was broken into in the afternoon.

The shop owners have suffered looting in recent past events like in July during Saba Saba and Gen Z memorial protests. They had vowed not to take chances.

Security in the CBD was beefed up as pickups of General Service Unit(GSU), uniformed and plain clothes officers were seen patrolling the city to stop any lawlessness.