On the least ten other folks had been confirmed dull, ratings injured and others kidnapped during Wednesday’s Saba Saba protests, marking one in all the bloodiest days since Kenya’s childhood-led Gen Z uprising started in June.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) said the casualties came about during day-long demonstrations held during the nation to commemorate Saba Saba Day, historically tied to Kenya’s push for democracy. The protests, which drew thousands of younger Kenyans to the streets, were met with accepted police crackdowns in what observers described as excessive and unlawful force.
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“As of 1830hrs this day, the Commission had documented ten (10) fatalities, twenty-nine (29) injuries, two (2) cases of abduction and thirty-seven (37) arrests during seventeen (17) counties,” KNCHR said in a assertion.
The deaths were reported in Kitengela, Ongata Rongai, Kangemi, Embu, and Ol Kalou. Several victims were shot by police, with videos from Kitengela and Rongai showing officers in unmarked Subaru vehicles opening fire on unarmed protesters and violently assaulting others, triggering public outrage.
Police Defiance and Criminal Gangs
KNCHR accused the National Police Provider of defying a standing Excessive Court docket remark that prohibits the deployment of officers in plain garments or unmarked vehicles during public demonstrations. The Commission said it noticed hooded and unidentifiable officers, no longer in loyal uniform, patrolling Nairobi, Kajiado, and Nakuru counties in blatant push apart of the court directive.
Worryingly, the Commission also reported the presence of criminal gangs wielding erroneous weapons—including whips, wooden clubs, machetes, spears, bows, and arrows—in Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, and Eldoret. In some cases, these gangs were viewed operating alongside police officers, raising considerations of assert-sanctioned vigilantism.
Interior CS Murkomen Under Fire
The latest deaths arrive correct days after Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen became once captured on video ordering police to shoot and execute protesters in the occasion that they approached police stations or posed a threat to officers.
“That’s the reason you would possibly perchance seemingly additionally very neatly be issued with weapons. Give protection to your lives. Originate fire and shoot at them if it’s about 20 or so other folks—and right here’s an remark from above, no longer correct from me,” Murkomen said in the video, which has since long gone viral.
His remarks maintain drawn gripping criticism from rights groups, opposition leaders, and appropriate consultants. A petition has already been filed at the Excessive Court docket seeking to bar Murkomen from space of job and sustain him in my opinion responsible for inciting extrajudicial killings.
Rising Loss of life Toll Since Protests Began
Wednesday’s fatalities add to the growing toll since Gen Z-led protests erupted last year in opposition to the controversial Finance Invoice 2024, which became once later withdrawn following public rigidity. Extra than 60 other folks were killed at the time.
On the least 39 other folks maintain now died in reference to the protests over the last three weeks, according to human rights monitors. Many were shot by police during demonstrations in Nairobi, Mlolongo, Matuu, Kisii, Nyeri, Londiani, Kisumu, and Migori.
A huge sequence of protesters had been kidnapped, tortured, or forcibly disappeared—with their families and lawyers denied find entry to. Civil society groups maintain condemned the escalating violence and known as for independent investigations into police habits.
Raila Odinga’s Response
Opposition leader Raila Odinga, who had planned to lead a rally at Kamukunji Grounds to commemorate Saba Saba, cancelled the tournament after police sealed off the venue and mounted roadblocks during Nairobi.
Instead, he addressed a press conference at Serena Resort, the place he condemned the assert’s repression and warned of a growing authoritarian shift in the nation.
“What became once intended to be a soundless day of national reflection turned into into a day of fear. This government is using force to silence its bear electorate,” Odinga said.
He proposed an pressing Inter-Generational National Conclave, bringing collectively childhood, civil society, political actors, professionals, and spiritual leaders to chart a method forward and address what he described as “irreducible minimums” for national reform.
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“The opposite folks are hungry, the childhood are indignant, and the leadership is absent. We must act now,” he added.
Odinga known as for instantaneous accountability for police killings and demanded the protection of civil liberties, including the nice to soundless meeting, free speech, and freedom from arbitrary arrest.
Civil Liberties Under Possibility
KNCHR also condemned the assault on Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) locations of work on Tuesday, the place employed goons assaulted staff and individuals of the general public. Journalists covering the incident were careworn and robbed. The attackers, according to KNCHR, were captured on CCTV and ought to be introduced to justice.
Additionally, the Commission expressed deep scenario over the increasing persecution of Human Rights Defenders (HRDs). In the previous week by myself, over 20 HRDs maintain reportedly been beaten, arrested, summoned, or charged—merely for supporting or organising the Gen Z protests.
KNCHR urged the government to instantly stop harassment of civil society, respect court orders, and permit excellent protests to proceed without violence or intimidation.
