Heavy police presence was deployed in Nairobi streets Thursday ahead of President William Ruto's State of the Nation speech, which comes as he faces criticism over abductions, corruption and unpopular economic policies.
The deployment followed a rallying of citizens on social media come out and protest Ruto's speech in parliament.
But the energy behind the mass demonstrations between June and August, sparked by proposed tax rises, has petered out.
Rights groups say people have been cowed by the violent police response, which saw more than 60 killed during the protests, and a spate of abductions targeting organisers in the following months.
Human Rights Watch said this month that Kenyan security forces "abducted, arbitrarily arrested, tortured, and killed perceived leaders of the anti-Finance Bill protests".
Ruto is making his third State of the Nation address since taking office in 2022 with a pitch to help the country's poor.
He has worked to forge close ties with Western countries and donors, but his room for maneuver has been severely limited by Kenya's heavy debt burden, which surpassed $80 billion this year.
Like many African countries, Kenya is paying more in interest on that debt than it does for health and education.
Ruto introduced a Finance Bill this year to try to boost government coffers but proposed tax hikes on basic items like bread, cooking oil and sanitary pads sparked the protests.
While economic growth has remained relatively strong, estimated at 5.4 percent last year, a third of Kenya's 52 million people live in poverty.
Ruto cancelled the Finance Bill following the protests but has since quietly reintroduced many of its tax hikes through three new bills, including VAT hikes and new taxes on the digital sector.
The latter means freelancers working in food delivery and for ride-hailing apps -- which have become vital sources of income in recent years -- will have to pay income tax for the first time.
In a speech on November 1, Ruto said Kenya's development was "overdue by decades" because it had failed to boost tax revenues.
"As a result, we lack the resources needed for development," he said, highlighting the 850,000 young people who enter the labour market each year and struggle to find jobs.
But he faces storm clouds on multiple fronts.
The Catholic Church, traditionally seen as close to Kenyan power, came out last week with a scathing statement against Ruto's administration focused on the abductions, taxes and corruption.
There is also controversy around the launch of a new health insurance scheme, where widespread system failures have led to patients being denied care.
There were also protests this year when secretive plans were revealed for India's Adani Group to take over the country's main airport for 30 years.
Ruto says Adani's planned $1.85 billion investment in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was vital to its modernisation, but his case will not have been helped by news on Wednesday that the group's founder Gautam Adani has been charged in the United States with massive bribery and fraud.
