These Police Officers Banned From Protests As 11 Awarded Ksh2.2 Million

On Wednesday, April 30, the High Court made a significant ruling concerning the right to peaceful assembly in the country, while compensating 11 lawyers millions of shillings over rights violations in anti-tax protests.

In the ruling, High Court Judge Bahati Mwamuye declared that the government's ban on the anti-government protests between June and August 2024 is unconstitutional. Former Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei had issued the ban order ahead of the June 2024 Gen Z-led protests.

The court ruled that Bungei’s order violated citizens' constitutional right to peaceful assembly, protected under Articles 27, 28, 29, 33, 37, 49, and 244.

Kenyan police officers and security personnel take position to protect the Kenyan Parliament as protesters try to storm the building in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, on June 25, 2024. /CNN

Back in June 2024, the widely publicised 'Gen-Z protests' erupted, with police clashing violently with thousands of demonstrators, often with serious consequences.

The High Court slammed the police for their conduct and ordered Ksh2.2 million in general and exemplary damages to be paid to 11 petitioners, each getting Ksh200,000 for the violation of their rights.

The petitioners claimed officers used excessive force during the protests, including unnecessary teargas, baton beatings, and even the alleged use of live bullets.

In a related ruling, the court mandated that all officers deployed at protests or public gatherings must wear uniforms, a move that effectively bans plainclothes officers from being deployed to protests. Furthermore, police officers are now barred from hiding their identities or covering their faces.

“A declaration is hereby issued that any law enforcement officer deployed to maintain law and order during an assembly, demonstration, or picketing must be in uniform and shall not, in any way, conceal their identity, including by obscuring their face, so as to remain unidentifiable,” Justice Mwamuye said. 

The ruling comes at a time when Kenyan authorities are facing mounting public criticism over their handling of recent protests. Attention has once again turned to the 2024 anti-Finance Bill demonstrations following the release of the BBC documentary Blood Parliament.

The documentary strongly implied that police used excessive force and intentionally hid their identities. Footage surfaced showing officers masked with balaclavas and scarves to avoid being identified.

The 37-minute piece also singled out an officer in plain clothes, John Kaboi, instructing officers to eliminate the surging protesters to keep them from reaching the entrance of Parliament. 

Even more shocking was that Kenyans learnt that some members of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) were involved in the killings at Parliament grounds.

John Kaboi, one of the plainclothes police officers, at Parliament grounds during the June 25, 2024, protests. /BBC