KENYA: PROTEST THUGS ADMIT BEING POLICE GOONS

State-sanctioned political violence and the suppression of dissent seem to be on the rise in Kenya. A number of young Kenyans claim they were hired by security agencies to disrupt recent protests against police brutality. They made their claims anonymously on Kenyan news outlet Citizen TV.

On 17 June, recall, hooligans mounted on motorcycles and wielding whips and sticks attacked peaceful demonstrators in Nairobi. Suspicions that they were in cahoots with the authorities spread after a video emerged of police apparently escorting them. Some of the thugs were reportedly heard praising a governor while passing by City Hall, the seat of the Nairobi County government, suggesting instructions from political leaders.

The Police Reforms Working Group (PRWG-K) has criticised the intentional infiltration of peaceful protests by ‘hundreds of violent agitators.’ It alleges that police ‘deliberately accompanied, supported and directed their actions.’

The tendency towards political violence in Kenya is deeply embedded in its history, dating back to the colonial period. Back then, the police force was created as a tool of oppression. After gaining independence, successive governments repeatedly used the police to stifle dissent, with reforms having minimal effect on this entrenched behaviour.

Some of the worst excesses of police brutality occurred in June-July 2024 during mass rallies against planned tax increases backed by the IMF. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says police killed 60 people and injured hundreds. The youngest victim was 12-year-old Kennedy Onyango, who succumbed to gunshot wounds.

Video credit: Citizen TV Kenya