Teargas, batons as Kenyans pour into the streets in 'day of rage'

A protestor chanting anti-government songs while demonstrating against rampant abduction in the country on December 30, 2024 at the Aga Khan Walk, Nairobi. [Kanyiri Wahito Standard]

This year is ending just the same way it started. There is heightened anxiety over police brutality and threats of street protests.

Yesterday, as the count down to the New Year began, Kenyans poured out their frustrations against the government in streets and in social media spaces in a conversation saturated with police batons and tear gas canisters in various parts of the country.

Although veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, whose eyes are focused on Ethiopia and the looming elections for the chairperson of African Union Commission, was absent from the streets, the Generation Z demonstrators kept the flames of their freedom burning over plumes of tear gas fumes.

Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah and over 25 activists ended up in police cells after leading protests in Nairobi demanding the release of youths who have been abducted for allegedly criticising the government. Kenyans have continued to pour out their outrage, castigating the Kenya Kwanza administration over its double speak on the abductions.

Former Chief Justice David Maraga, who had been appointed by President William Ruto to head the 20-member national taskforce on police reforms also raised his voice over the abductions and called for the immediate release of the youth still held unlawfully.

“Our politics must never again be this heartless and uncaring. Fidelity to the Constitution is fundamental. It keeps us all grounded to our responsibility to build a just society,” said Maraga

Maraga said Kenyans, by voting for the 2010 Constitution, laid down a fundamentally new vision for transforming the country and nation.

“The cries of pain and outrage we saw this year were sparked by the erosion of basic dignity and economic mismanagement. We must urgently address the decline in vital sectors such as education and health. We must reset the economy to create decent jobs for our youth and restructure our tax regime in order to guarantee fairness and sustainability of the tax burden. This is possible. The country has done this before and can do it again,” Maraga said.

The former Chief Justice also hailed the resilience of the Kenyan people in the face of adversity saying Kenyans had actively held public institutions to account  “even as they faced the brute force of the regime’s push-back.”

“The responsibility of ensuring that instruments of power are not abused lies with office bearers. Let us determine that 2025 is the year that these values become an inseparable part of us. It must also be the year of accountability for those who caused so much pain to Kenyans in 2024. This must be the year that we stand firmly for constitutionalism, the rule of law and justice. Let us always remember our collective destiny and safeguard it,” Maraga noted.

Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka accused Dr Ruto’s administration of overseeing mass abductions of government critics on social media, especially those who drew pictures and cartoons that “Ruto did not like.”

Kalonzo likened “the terrible practice of abduction by hooded brutes” to the Adolf Hitler Nazi militias.

“Up to date, and given that none of these balaclava-wearing gangsters captured clearly on CCTV have been arrested, there can only be one conclusion. They receive their instructions directly from State House, Nairobi. Let us not pretend about this. What is clear, no matter the type of whitewashing, chest thumping and sugar-coating Ruto’s misguided social media gang attempts to do by sponsoring all manner of hashtags, is that William Ruto is the chief commander of the abduction squad,” Kalonzo said in a hard hitting statement.

Kalonzo called on international partners to note the serious crimes against humanity being perpetuated by the Kenya Kwanza regime and add their voice of condemnation.

This comes even as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga ordered investigations into the ongoing abductions and forced disappearances of citizens following widespread public outcry. He directed the National Police Service and the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) to expedite their investigations and submit an update for review within three days.

“Pursuant to Article 157 (4) of the Constitution, I have directed both the Inspector General of Police and IPOA to expedite investigations into the reported cases and forward the resultant files for review and action, or provide an update on the investigations, within three (3) days from today.”

The DPP acknowledged that at least five individuals were reported missing in December 2024 under mysterious circumstances. The five are Billy Mwangi, Peter Muteti Njeru, Bernard Kavuli, satirist Gideon Kibet Bull and his brother, Ronny Kiplagat.

President Ruto’s acknowledgment of abductions after months of denial and his counsel to parents to instill discipline to their children did not augur well with a section of Kenyans and leaders who accused him of trying to dictate parenting as opposed to working for Kenyans.

 “We elected you to put the country’s economy in order, not to dictate how parents should raise their children. Even if you abduct the whole country, unresolved issues will persist. Saying you will stop abductions is not enough. We need to see the abducted released,” former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said in Kakamega on Sunday.

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Kenyans on social media also condemned Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen for his claims that there had been no killings since Ruto took office, with many terming him a visitor from Jerusalem.

Others claimed Murkomen had been given the Interior docket to sanitise the Kenya Kwanza administration.

“Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has documented over 60 people who have been killed by the police since the Gen Z protests started. It is unfortunate that the Kenya Kwanza administration sees no evil and hears no evil,”an X user identified as Emmanuel Kasamba tweeted.

“If the President of the Republic is not aware of the forced disappearances and abductions happening in our country, then we have every reason to get worried and to believe that we are living in a sad situation. This also shows that the leadership has failed to do its work,” Mwangangi noted.

When the Head of State took to social media to send his message of condolences following the Jeju air accident in South Korea that claimed more than 70 lives, social media users flooded his Facebook page with messages reminding him of his country’s abductions.

“Shame on Kenya as it is a shame on Uganda. From democracy to dictatorship. Ruto is provoking all the efforts the grandparents of the people of Kenya incurred in the fight to gain the prevailing little democracy. Kenyans shall overcome if they fight when it’s still early,” Sserunkuma John Boasco wrote. 

“It’s so sad that you send this to Korea while in Kenya ....and you say nothing about the ongoing abductions,” Isaac Newton, another social media user, wrote 

“We are devastated by the abductions that have left more than five families looking for their sons and daughters. Our thoughts are with the victims’ families and the people of Kenya at this sorrowful time,” Julius Mbugua wrote.