Kenya has witnessed what is now termed the ‘Gen Z and Millennial revolution’ where youthful Kenyans, tired and fed up with a ‘broken and corrupt’ system, are demanding change, including ending corruption and holding leaders accountable for their ‘shortcomings’.
This ‘revolution’ was sparked by the introduction of the Finance Bill, 2024, which can only be described as the yoke tightening on an already broken neck. As a result, mass protests organised wholly by the young through social media platforms have been witnessed countrywide.
Death and serious injuries are the shadows that remain to tell of this struggle.
What is more worrying is the indiscriminate abduction of persons and the extrajudicial killings of young peaceful protesters, who were ‘armed’ with only masks, water, placards and hope for a better country. The question that lingers is all for what?
Many internet personalities have been taken from their homes, streets or workplaces by ‘unknown’ persons. They are then disappeared for hours and held incommunicado, prompting the citizenry to call for their release.
Unfortunately, some are yet to be found and their whereabouts remain unknown. It is prudent and right that they are all released unconditionally by their ‘captors’.
What worries me the most is that Kenya has a history of numerous cases of enforced disappearances, some never to be seen again. The decaying bodies from River Yala, as an example, serve as a reminder of such atrocities.
Kenya has not signed or ratified the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which came into force in 2010. Article one of this convention provides that no one shall be subjected to any form of enforced disappearance.
Article two provides that no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance.
What we have been witnessing is a serious and gross violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms enshrined not only in our Constitution but in regional and international instruments. The abductions, some of which took place in the late hours of the night and very early morning, should never be witnessed again.
The only right thing to do is to condemn the abductions in the highest terms possible and ask for the respect of human rights as enshrined in our Constitution and for Kenya to urgently ratify the aforementioned convention. Enforced disappearances should not be entertained at all.
The police need to be reminded that they have a mandate and a duty to protect all lives, in this case, the lives of the young peaceful protesters. As a country, we cannot continue to witness such blatant disregard for human lives and violation of a fundamental right—to life—because a few people feel they can.
We cannot continue to witness what we saw during the past regimes on abductions and extrajudicial killings reemerge. The current government promised not to use these underhanded tactics but it has not kept its word.
Kenyans, have and will always have a right under Article 37 to peacefully protest against that which is unjust. Abductions and extrajudicial killings should end. A polite reminder is this, Kenya is and will always remain a country governed by the rule of law and constitutionalism.
Programme officer at the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya)