Following a recent report presented before the Kenyan National Assembly, Kenyans must now hold their Interior Cabinet Secretary accountable for the casualties of the anti-government protests that rocked the nation in June 2024.
Development Diaries reports that 1,208 people were arrested during the protest, 42 people were killed, while two bodies are still unaccounted for according to a report by Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kithure Kindiki.
Recall that protests began in cities and towns in Kenya after the Finance Bill 2024 was submitted to parliament on 18 June.
It was also reported that Kenyan security forces shot directly into crowds of protesters on 25 June, 2024, including protesters who were fleeing, according to findings by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
As the protests unfolded, the public trust in government declined sharply with many calling for the resignation of President Willam Ruto.
During his appearance before the National Assembly, Kindiki defended the police, saying without their response the parliament would have been burnt down by ‘criminals’.
‘We have had differences of opinion, expression of views, the exercise of our rights, but what happened in our country in June and July was unprecedented, we came close to not having a country’, Kindiki said in a statement.
‘Not all the missing people have been abducted by the police, not all the people who have been arrested have been arrested for participating in protests’.
While he said that the law allows police to use excessive force, he also said it would be unfortunate if there were situations where guns were used to kill citizens.
‘We will deal with the officers who excessively used their guns, bought with the taxes of the people of Kenya, to harm the same people’, Kindiki added.
Kenyans have the right to peacefully express their opinions as enshrined in the country’s laws, hence, they do not deserve to be met with excessive use of force and brutality from the armed forces.
Development Diaries call on the people of Kenya to hold the Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kithure Kindiki, accountable for ensuring that erring members of the armed forces are properly investigated and meant to face the full wrath of the law.
Photo source: Sipa/AP Images
