High Court Blocks Deployment Of KDF To Stop Anti-Finance Bill Protests
This is after the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) moved to court seeking an order to stop the process of deploying the military on Kenyan soil.
Marvin Chege 
The High Court on Wednesday, June 26 suspended the deployment of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers to different parts of the country to quell unrest as a result of the anti-Finance Bill protests.
This is according to various media reports that Viral Tea was unable to independently ascertain. This is after the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) moved to court seeking an order to stop the process of deploying the military on Kenyan soil.
LSK led by President Faith Odhiambo, urged the court to suspend the decision to deploy the military until the case brought before the court is heard and determined.
The Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi. /FILE
The Society had filed a petition against Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale and the National Assembly, accusing the two parties of contravening the law by deploying the military against the law.
The High Court has since directed LSK and CS Duale to make submissions on Thursday, June 27 at 9 am in the application seeking to quash the Gazette Notice deploying KDF to quell protests.
The order follows a Gazette Notice by CS Duale allowing military deployment to support the National Police Service (NPS) in restoring normalcy in the country.
Duale in the notice, explained that the decision to use the KDF was in light of the demonstrations that escalated and caused significant damage to critical government infrastructure.
“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.
“This is in response to the security emergency caused by the ongoing violent protests in various parts of the republic of Kenya resulting in destruction and breaching of critical infrastructure.”
That announcement was however not taken kindly by members of the public who accused the state of illegally deploying the military to handle unarmed protesters leading to the alleged Githurai 45 massacre.
Expressing their opinions, Kenyans claimed that KDF officers should only be deployed under two scenarios, when there is a situation of emergency or disaster, or to restore peace in any part of Kenya affected by unrest or instability.
In the petition filed in court, the National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetangula was accused of ratifying the deployment. Wetangula reportedly convened a special meeting with a section of legislators to approve the deployment.
"Without media, without most members, without proper debate, in a record 30mins, the National Assembly has just made Kenya a military state; authorizing the deployment of KDF," Rarieda Member of Parliament Otiende Amollo disclosed.
