BBC Exposé: KDF Officers' Role In Brutality During June 25 Demos

An investigation by BBC Africa Eye has revealed the role of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officers in acts of brutality during the June 25, 2024, anti-government protests, revealing the possibility that the protests may have been hijacked by elements of highly trained officers outside the police units.

In the 37-minute documentary, it is alleged that, other than the police officers tasked with maintaining law and order, other shooters, likely from the KDF — mainly the Kenya Army — were also involved in the Gen Z protests.

The BBC says it tracked the killing of dozens of Kenyan youths through digital evidence. One major detail they pointed out was that one shooter during the Parliament chaos was dressed differently from all the plainclothes cops, hinting he might not have been part of the police forces.

"In the video of the officer shouting, 'uaa!', the shooter's back was to the camera. But the BBC compared his body armour, riot shield, and headgear with those of every police officer at the scene. In his case, he had an upturned neck guard. We matched his distinctive uniform to an officer in a video recorded seconds later. There, he made sure to hide his face before firing into the crowd. We do not know his name," BBC reported in part.

It is alleged that one of the shooters involved in the parliamentary incident was an officer later linked to the Central Police Station in Nairobi. However, attempts to locate the officer at the station were unsuccessful, raising concerns about his actual deployment and assignment.

Efforts to obtain comments from both the National Police Service (NPS) and the Central Police Station regarding the officer’s conduct were also unsuccessful. The NPS stated that investigations into police conduct fall exclusively under the mandate of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and emphasised that it could not investigate itself.

In response to allegations that Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officers were involved in the shootings, the KDF denied the claims, maintaining that it is a professional and neutral institution.

On that June 25, Cabinet Secretary (CS) Aden Duale, then at Defence, announced that KDF officers would be deployed to assist the police in managing the unrest. In a gazette notice, he explained that the move was prompted by protesters targeting critical infrastructure, which he said posed a serious threat to national security.

"Under Article 241 (3) (b) of the Constitution of Kenya as read with sections 31 (1) (a), 31 (1) (c), 33 (1), 34 (1) and 34 (2) of the Kenya Defence Forces Act, (Cap. 199), the Kenya Defence Forces is deployed on the 25th June, 2024 in support of the National Police Service," read part of the gazette notice.

Following a week of intense protests, including the storming of Parliament, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) reported that 39 people had been killed and 361 injured nationwide.

The protests, which ultimately led to the withdrawal of the Finance Bill that sought to raise Ksh346 billion in taxes, severely damaged Kenya’s international reputation amid widespread reports of human rights violations.

To date, the only police officer facing potential murder charges is from Central Police Station; however, the case was postponed on March 10 after a key witness requested additional time to submit crucial documents to the court.