Kenyan judge orders new police chief to rescind city demo ban

Nairobi High Court judge Bahati Mwamuye ordered IG Douglas Kanja to ensure to circulate an official communication regarding her restraining orders not late than Friday, July 19.

NAIROBI | A judge in Kenya has poured cold water on police's ban on demonstrations in the capital Nairobi and ordered the Inspector General to ensure that the court's decision reached all officers of the National Police Service.

Nairobi High Court judge Bahati Mwamuye ordered IG Douglas Kanja to ensure to circulate an official communication regarding her restraining orders not late than Friday, July 19.

The Kenyan police on Wednesday banned protests in Nairobi, saying the popular Gen-Z protests had been "infiltrated by criminals".

A month of anti-government protests over the now repealed Finance Bill, 2024, brought the government of William Ruto to its knees.

President Ruto was forced to abandon the tax measures. He also sacked all but his entire cabinet, leaving only deputy president and chief prime cabinet secretary.

But the protesters have persisted and new acting IG Kanja, who was appointed after Japheth Koome resigned in the wake of the protests, came out with batons out on Wednesday to ban the protests.

Kanja said in a statement that he had received "credible intelligence that organised criminal groups are planning to take advantage of the ongoing protests".

"Criminals have continued to infiltrate the protesting groups, resulting in a troubling trend of disorderly and destructive conduct," the Wednesday statement said.

"The lack of designated leadership in previous demonstrations” that had “made it difficult to enforce safety protocols."

What had been planned for Thursday in the city failed to take off.

However, Katiba Institute, a nonprofit organisation, ran to court seeking an order to put aside IG Kanja's decision.

Katiba argued that the acting IG abrogated to himself the sole privilege to determine when a right under the constitution can be enjoyed, Kenya's The Star newspaper reported.

"He has grabbed for himself the sole privilege of determining who does and does not enjoy the right to assemble, picket and protest under article 37 of the constitution," The Star quoted Karitiba's argument.

"They have turned the police service into a cabal operating as if the constitution is a mere piece of paper. They have trampled upon the Bill of Rights and other constitutional provisions."

Katiba said the police should serve the people who assemble by protecting them and not using excessive force against them.

Katiba told the judge that it is in the public interest that people be allowed to exercise their right to demonstrate peacefully and unarmed.

Last month, the Kenya high court allowed the government to pour military boots into the streets to reinforce an overwhelmed police force.

But this time Judge Mwamuye agreed with the NGO that promotes knowledge and understanding of Kenya's constitution and constitutionalism.

The court said it will review its temporary order stopping police from banning protests on July 29.