Kenyan police - The African Mirror

Oct

2023

Kenya blocks airing of allegations of UK army abuses before king’s visit

KENYAN police blocked a news conference intended to air allegations of human rights and environmental abuses by British troops in the country, hours before King Charles arrives for a four-day state visit. Buckingham Palace has said Charles' visit will acknowledge "painful aspects of the UK and Kenya's shared history". The British ruled for more than six decades before the East African nation won its independence in 1963. The allegations in question relate to a period long after the end of colonial rule. Residents of central Kenya's Lolldaiga area have accused a British army training unit based nearby of causing a 2021 wildfire…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

Tax-hike protesters clash with Kenyan police, two shot dead

NEWS

STONE-THROWING demonstrators clashed with police and two were shot dead, officers on the scene said, in anti-tax protests in cities and towns around Kenya called by opposition leader Raila Odinga. Police fired tear gas to disperse protests in the capital Nairobi, the port city of Mombasa and several other towns, according to Reuters reporters and footage aired on Kenyan television stations. Some of the most intense clashes took place on the expressway linking Nairobi to its international airport, where protesters lit fires and pulled down the flower boxes that usually line the road to use as barricades. Police officers patrolling…

Jul

2023

By AYENAT MERSIE and HUMPHREY MALALO

Kenyan police clash with anti-tax hike protesters, dozens arrested

NEWS

KENYAN police fired tear gas and fought running battles with opposition supporters in major towns around the country protesting against a raft of tax hikes. Opposition leader Raila Odinga called the protests to oppose tax increases imposed at a time when many are already struggling with high prices of basic commodities such as maize flour. Kenya's High Court ordered that the tax hikes be suspended but the government has raised petrol prices anyway, leading to a further court challenge. Police arrested 17 protesters in the capital Nairobi, said a coalition of human rights groups including Article 19. Another 11 activists were arrested…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenyan police fire tear gas at protesters marching against finance bill

NEWS

KENYAN police fired tear gas at hundreds of people protesting near parliament against a proposed finance bill that would hike taxes on fuel and housing. President William Ruto, who won elections in August on a platform of helping the poor, is under pressure to raise revenues in East Africa's economic powerhouse in the face of rising government debt repayments. But his proposals have drawn sharp criticism from civil servants and political opponents, who say that the cost of living is already too high. Police fired tear gas to disperse about 500 protesters who marched to parliament to present a petition…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya opposition says it suspends protests after agreement with government

NEWS

KENYA'S opposition said they had suspended the latest anti-government protests planned after reaching an agreement with the government of President William Ruto. In a statement, the opposition Azimio La Umoja (Declaration of Unity) alliance, led by veteran opposition politician Raila Odinga, said its leadership had met and "agreed to once more suspend the mass protests that we had earlier scheduled to continue tomorrow." The decision to suspend the protests was taken after Ruto's ruling Kenya Kwanza (Kenya First) alliance agreed "to one of our demands," according to the statement. The opposition did not provide details of the agreement. On Monday…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenyan anti-government protests resume with police firing tear gas

NEWS

KENYAN police fired tear gas at a small group of protesters in the capital Nairobi on Tuesday as the opposition resumed anti-government demonstrations following a one-month pause. The main opposition coalition organised three days of demonstrations in March to protest high living costs and alleged fraud in last year's election, which its leader Raila Odinga lost to President William Ruto. Those protests were marred by clashes between police and demonstrators as well as sporadic incidents of violence, including one that Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki termed as "ethnically-laced arson" when a church and mosque were set ablaze in Nairobi's Kibera neighbourhood. Odinga suspended…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenya police begin exhuming remains from suspected Christian cult graves

NEWS

HUMPHREY MALALO KENYAN police began exhuming remains from more than a dozen suspected graves in the east of the country thought to contain followers of a Christian cult who believed they would go to heaven if they starved themselves to death. On Thursday, homicide detectives marked out patches of earth with sticks and yellow tape in Shakahola forest in Kilifi county, near the location where police rescued 15 members of the Good News International Church last week, according to footage broadcast by Citizen TV. Police began exhuming bodies on Friday, said Charles Kamau, a detective in the nearby town of Malindi, without…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Kenyan opposition politicians arrested, tear-gassed during protests

NEWS

HUMPHREY MALALO and AYENAT MERSIE KENYAN police tear-gassed the leader of the opposition and arrested senior lawmakers in his parliamentary faction, as protesters took to the streets to march against President William Ruto and the high cost of living. The convoy of Raila Odinga, who was defeated by Ruto last year in his fifth straight election as the runner-up, was repeatedly sprayed with tear gas as he addressed supporters from the sunroof of his car. Odinga has called for nationwide protests as he attempts to harness dissatisfaction with the president. At least four members of parliament were arrested during protests…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Prominent Kenyan LGBTQ activist found dead, suspect arrested

NEWS

HUMPHREY MALALO KENYAN police said a suspect had been arrested in connection with the death of a prominent LGBTQ rights campaigner whose body was found stuffed into a metal box in the west of the country. Motorbike taxi riders alerted police after they saw the box dumped by the roadside from a vehicle with a concealed number plate, The Standard and The Daily Nation newspapers reported, quoting police sources. Activist Edwin Chiloba's remains were found on Tuesday near Eldoret town in Uasin Gishu county, where he ran his fashion business, independent rights group the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) said.…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenyan police bust child trafficking ring

NEWS

NITA BHALLA KENYAN police have arrested three hospital staff in a probe into the theft and sale of babies, accusing some public hospitals and care homes of colluding with organised crime. Authorities acted after a BBC investigation revealed how Kenyan child trafficking syndicates - from street clinics to a government-run hospital - were stealing babies from vulnerable mothers to be sold for as little as $400. Kenya's Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai said three medical officers from a public hospital had been arrested, with a high possibility of more arrests to come. "During an operation by police to unearth…