A debate has emerged over the characterization of recent youth-led protests in Kenya, with officials drawing sharp criticism for comparing the demonstrations to acts of terrorism.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen on Monday defended the government’s response to last year’s anti-Finance Bill demos where crowds stormed Parliament buildings in Nairobi.
“I am here to see a media house that calls out all those who invaded parliament. In any civilized society in the world, anybody who invaded parliament would have been called a terrorist, straight away, in many countries. But here in Kenya, we still say peaceful protesters invaded Parliament,” said Murkomen.
Murkomen questioned the characterization of the events, saying last year’s demos were not peaceful.
“How can invasion and peace survive in one sentence? It must be, it must break our conscience that, so you’ve seen protests in other parts of the world, people marching peacefully along streets and making their statements,” argued the CS.
In response, Amnesty International Kenya’s Executive Director, Irungu Houghton, has condemned the government’s stance, describing it as ironic for the minster to liken the protests to acts of terrorism.
“It’s deeply ironic, even troubling, for the Cabinet Secretary for Interior to liken the protests by Gen Z to acts of terrorism,” Irungu said in an interview on Spice FM on Tuesday.
Murkomen had also referenced proposed legislation aimed at regulating public demonstrations.
“That is why part of the law that we are proposing is to create an opportunity for public order to give people the space to do protests in an environment that is peaceful and that respects the constitutional responsibility of every one of us,” he said.
However, Irungu has raised additional concerns beyond the terrorism characterization, questioning the involvement of security agencies in recent incidents.
“Another critical conversation we need to have is whether the DCI officers who picked up Albert were part of the same multi-agency task force that has been linked to abductions of 89 people and 65 deaths just last year,” he said.
He was referring to Albert Ojwang’ the schoolteacher and blogger who died just over a week ago in custody at Nairobi’s Central Police Station after he was arrested in Homa Bay over alleged publication of derogatory social media posts targeting the Police Deputy Inspector-General Eliud Lagat.
The murder has sparked uproar over persistent police brutality and extra-judicial killings, leading to Lagat’s stepping aside from his role on Monday pending the completion of investigations.
