For about two weeks between June 18 and July 2, 2024, Kenya has faced nationwide protests driven by widespread opposition to the Finance Bill 2024. These protests took place every Tuesday and Thursday over a 15-day period, and were largely fueled by online activism against the proposals contained in the Finance Bill 2024. The demonstrations were met with a heavy police response, amid reports of vandalism, violence, arrests and clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
In response, President Ruto held a press briefing on June 26, 2024, acknowledging the intensity of the public demand and declining to sign the Finance Bill 2024 into law. Later that week, the president addressed the nation in a media interview on June 30, 2024, addressing several issues witnessed from the protests and the government’s plans.
One of the promises by the Kenya Kwanza government was to end all forms of extrajudicial executions by security services. Part of the statements he made during these two addresses were tied to this promise.
Extra-judicial killings
During the national address, President Ruto said that since his inauguration there has never been a case of extrajudicial killing. In the most recent press briefing he has made, Ruto repeated this statement twice – first during an address where he withdrew the tax plans on June 26, 2024, and during an interview with journalists on June 30, 2024.
On June 26, 2024, he said, “I did promise the country that there will be no extrajudicial killings going forward, and ever since I came into office there is no one incident of extrajudicial killing.”
During the June 30, 2024 interview, Ruto repeated this statement. He said, “Any life that is lost is something that should bother anybody beginning with myself, and it is why I have told you, that when I came into office, I said three things.”
“Number one, I said there will be no extrajudicial killing in Kenya.”
The World Organization Against Torture (WOAT) defines extrajudicial killings as incidents that happen when someone in an official position deliberately kills someone without any legal process. It also adds that deaths which occur in detention or from torture are regarded as extrajudicial killings. On the other hand, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHRC) defines enforced disappearances as the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of human rights by agents of the state or approval of the state.
Verification
A report titled ‘End Police Impunity’ by Missing Voices shows that in 2023, there were 118 cases of extrajudicial killing, a drop from 130 cases reported in 2022. The report also notes that the number of people shot by police was 113, those who died in police custody were two, those from police beating were two and one died from torture. It also adds that anti-riot killings increased due to the protests against the Finance Bill 2023 experienced in March and July 2023. Nairobi had the highest number of killings, with 46 cases, while Kisumu county had the second highest with 9 killings.
In 2023, the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) a member of the Missing Voices Coalition, monitored 22 protests in Kenya between March and August. In this report, IMLU received 303 alerts and documented 296 cases of torture and torture-related violations in the context of these demonstrations. This report reveals that 67 of the cases were extrajudicial killings, which were an extreme outcome of the 296 documented cases.
IMLU highlights that “Security services not only failed to protect, respect and fulfil the constitutional right to protest but also actively violated with habitual regularity.”
During the live interview, when asked for his response on the lives lost from the protests President Ruto claimed that by June 30, 2024, there were 19 deaths. On Minute 01’48” – 01’58”, “He said, “I have no blood on my hands. 19 people, to the record I have from the security agencies, are dead.”
However, these numbers are six deaths short of the data attributed to the Police Reforms Working Group (PRWG), which reported that by June 25, 2024, there were 23 deaths nationwide. By July 1, 2024, the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR) accounted for 39 deaths and 361 injuries related to these protests countrywide. It also adds that there have been 32 cases of enforced or involuntary disappearances, and 627 instances of arrests of protesters. While postmortem reports of these 39 victims are not conclusive, KNCHR holds that the government should provide security to protesters and ensure law and order as stated in Article 29 (a-f) of the Kenyan constitution.
In an instance of arrest, according to Article 49 Clause 1(a-h) of the Constitution, an arrested person has the right to be informed of the reason for arrest, the right to remain silent and the consequences thereof. They also have the right to an advocate or person whose assistance is necessary. Under Clause 1(f) arrested persons should be brought before a court as soon as possible, but not later than 24 hours after an arrest. In case the 24 hours end on a day that is not a court day, they should then be presented before a court, by the end of the next court day.
Section 29 (a-k) of the Criminal Procedure Code allows arrests without a warrant, limiting this power to police officers or other law enforcement bodies under given circumstances. These laws give a framework which ensures that Kenyans are protected from abductions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and unlawful detentions.
Verdict
President Ruto’s statements on June 26 and June 30, 2024, claiming that there has been no instance of extrajudicial killings in Kenya since he took office, are false.
False data by the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR)
During a live broadcast on June 30, 2024 with Joe Ageyo of NTV, Linus Kaikai of Royal Media Services and Eric Latiff of Standard Group, President Ruto accused KNCHR of stating inaccurate numbers of the victims of these protests.
Referring to KNCHR, in minutes 10:20- 10:27, he says, “The government agency told the nation that there was a massacre in Githurai and 20 people were killed in Githurai.” He adds that the statement issued by KNCHR is in public.
Verification
Four days before this live broadcast, KNCHR published this statement addressing the anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests. The commission says that it, “witnessed with shock as police officers moved into residential areas of Githurai and Juja in the evening of Tuesday 25th June, 2024 and were allegedly involved in indiscriminate shooting of civilians.”
The Commission acknowledges that it, “Received unverified reports of scores of residents who were killed by the stray bullets.” Although the incident in Githurai and Juja is still under investigation, the commission did not confirm the number of deaths in this area as claimed by the president. The figures cited by President Ruto, attributed to KNCHR encompass all fatalities recorded in the cause of these protests.
On the night of June 25, 2024, claims of a massacre in Githurai widely circulated online, fueled by inaccuracies in information that gained traction as a factual incident. In an interview with Njoki Gachanja, the coordinator of Githurai Social Justice Centre, Africa Uncensored established that as of June 26, 2024, there was no evidence of a massacre in this area.
Verdict
The statement made by President Ruto, that the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights (KNCHR) published a statement confirming deaths in Githurai is misleading.
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