- Internal Security Minister Kithure Kindiki defended the actions of the police during the June 25 protests, claiming their use of force was necessary to protect national institutions.
- Kindiki said the police cannot be held responsible for the deaths of protesters, suggesting that some of the deaths were not the result of police firing.
- He emphasized that the protests threatened Kenya's constitutional institutions and compared the situation to the January 26 riots in the US Congress.
- Kindiki said allowing the protests to escalate could endanger the existence of the country, stressing the importance of maintaining stability
Nairobi – Minister of Interior Kithur Kindiki has defended the action of police officers during the protest on Tuesday, June 25, which resulted in the deaths of several protesters.
Source: UGC
Protests against the Finance Bill 2024, led by Generation Z activists, saw the storming of Parliament buildings, sparking public outcry over police brutality.
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Appearing before the National Assembly's Committee on Security and Governance on Thursday, September 26, Kindiki claimed that law enforcement had the right to use force.
The minister said that it was important to prevent further chaos and protect important national institutions.
However, he singled out the police as solely responsible for the deaths, suggesting that not all protesters were shot by police bullets.
“The fact that a person has been shot is not sufficient evidence that he has been shot by a police officer. Perhaps there is an assumption that the shot belongs to a police officer. It is not correct to argue that police officers cannot use force. We did not use force on that bad day, we would be talking about Kenya different,” Kindiki said in defense of the police actions.
Why are the actions of the National Police Service justified?
Kindiki continued to justify the police response, claiming that the protests were a threat to the country's constitutional institutions, including the Parliament, the Court and the Executive.
He claimed that if the protesters were allowed to do as they pleased, then Kenya would not exist, comparing the current situation to the January 26 riots in Parliament United States.
“If we destroy constitutional institutions such as the Parliament, the Courts, the Executive, we will not have a country. We would not have this discussion because the country would not have existed before,” he added.
Rights groups want justice to be done
As previously reported, around 300 people were detained during the June 25 Finance Bill protests, with 13 people reported missing and 27 others still missing, according to lobby groups.
The testimony, recorded between July 8 and August 9, confirmed that the police used lethal and non-lethal weapons, including tear gas, water cannons and batons.
The groups also claimed that the police threw tear gas at protesters, bystanders, and doctors, arbitrarily arrested and beat peaceful protesters, and fired live ammunition into the crowd.
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