Revealed: Areas Ruto & His Govt Threatened Kenyans In 2024
This is as Kenya was flagged for having a deteriorating human rights trajectory over the past year
Viral Tea Ke Writer 
A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights, has accused President William Ruto of issuing threats to Kenyans and channels in the country opposed to his unfavourable administration decisions.
The report titled World Report 2025 slammed the Kenyan Head of State for issuing public threats to the courts for making rulings against his administration's policies and proposals.
This is as Kenya was flagged for having a deteriorating human rights trajectory over the past year, with authorities restricting the right to peaceful protest in heavy-handed crackdowns against nationwide protests over the high cost of living.
"The authorities failed to address the socio-economic causes of protests and, instead, harassed, intimidated, and arrested protest leaders, activists and civil society groups accused of supporting the protests.
"President William Ruto publicly threatened the courts for making decisions unfavourable to his administration. The authorities have rarely investigated or prosecuted law enforcement officers implicated in human rights abuses," read the report in part.
Kenyans during a past protest in Nairobi. /FILE
HRW also revealed that President Ruto, alongside senior Kenya government officials, publicly threatened people who filed court petitions to challenge the 2023 Finance Bill and 2023 Housing Levy.
President Ruto was revealed to have accused the petitioners, and what he described as corrupt courts that listen and give them favourable decisions, of sabotaging his government. "The president’s close allies threatened to deal with judges they accused of colluding with petitioners to sabotage the president’s development agenda," added the report.
Ruto was also called out for initially ignoring court orders halting his government’s decision to deploy Kenyan police to Haiti without following due process. He later publicly declared that “the courts will not stop me,” and approved the deployment of police to Haiti without addressing all the concerns raised by the courts.
The report extended to the Kenya Police, with the law enforcement body in August 2024 ignoring a Habeas Corpus application by the families of three abducted activists—Jamil Longton, Aslam Longton, and Bob Njagi—in which the court found then Inspector General of Police, Gilbert Masengeli, in contempt of court. The authorities responded by withdrawing the judge’s security details.
Furthermore, in response to the tax protests, the authorities had in 2024 threatened civil society groups and some donor organizations for allegedly supporting the protests financially. In particular, President Ruto publicly accused the Ford Foundation both of funding the protests and funding civil society organizations (CSOs) such as Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Katiba Institute, whom he accused of organizing the protests.
"In July, chairman of the Public Benefits Organizations Regulatory Authority, Mwambu Mabonga, said the authority had asked the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to investigate at least 16 CSOs for allegedly operating illegally and for receiving money from the Ford Foundation to fund the protests," the report added.
Furthermore, media reports revealed that Ruto's government targeted media outlets, with editors summoned and threatened over live coverage of the Gen Z-led anti-government protests.
"In July, some media outlets reported that the authorities summoned their editors and threatened them over live coverage of the protests. Kenyan media subsequently stopped the live coverage of the protests. President Ruto said he had the power to shut down media over the live coverage of protests but he opted not to do so," added the report.
Meanwhile, HRW remarked on the recent surge in abductions and enforced disappearances of Kenyan citizens as well as those from neighbouring countries, attributing them to a shadowy government-linked special squad, reminiscent of the disbanded Special Service Unit (SSU) under the previous regime.
The activists allege that this new unit, known as the Operation Support Unit (OSU), has been behind a series of kidnappings and disappearances. Otsieno Namwaya, East Africa Director of Human Rights Watch, said: “(President William) Ruto disbanded SSU and formed OSU which is doing exactly what the SSU was doing.”
According to the report, 83 young individuals have recently been abducted, with 26 still missing - deepening concerns over the erosion of human rights and the rule of law in Kenya.
