Hundreds of men on motorbikes, armed with whips and clubs, have attacked protesters in downtown Nairobi while they were demonstrating against alleged extrajudicial killings, following the death of a blogger in police custody.
One person was killed on Tuesday as the assailants violently attacked and dispersed the demonstrators. A Reuters journalist saw the man’s body on the ground with a bleeding head wound. But it was not clear how he had died or who the man was.
The swarm of men on motorbikes could be heard shouting “No protest” in footage shared by local broadcaster NTV.
Amnesty International’s Kenya chapter condemned the attack, writing on X that the “use of militia will escalate confrontation, lawlessness and chaos”.
The incident came more than a week after the death of Albert Ojwang, a 31-year-old teacher and blogger. He died just two days after being arrested in the town of Homa Bay in western Kenya for allegedly criticising Eliud Lagat, the country’s deputy police chief.
A Kenyan police officer has been arrested in connection with Ojwang’s death.
The protests caused by his death reflect a wider concern about police violence. Rights groups say more than 60 people were killed by security forces last year during demonstrations in June and July against a controversial financial bill that would have increased taxes.
‘They cornered us and beat us with whips’
Speaking about the clashes on Tuesday, which also saw police fire tear gas at protesters, Ndungi Githuku, of the civil rights group Kongamano La Mapinduzi, said Kenya was turning into “a lawless country”.
“We see hundreds of paid goons, with whips and weapons, crude weapons, coming to brutalise our people,” he said.
One of the demonstrators, Hanifa Adan, who was a leading voice in last year’s Gen Z-led protests, told AFP that the men on motorbikes had “overwhelmed” her and others.
“They cornered us and beat us with whips and the police were just watching them do it,” she said.
Demonstrations were also held on Tuesday in Kenya’s second-largest city Mombasa, with the crowd holding placards saying “Stop killing us”.
Public anger grew after an autopsy revealed that Ojwang had not fatally injured himself by banging his head against a cell wall, as the Kenyan police had originally claimed.
The government’s pathologist found that his injuries, which included blunt force trauma, were “unlikely to be self-inflicted”.
Kenyan President William Ruto admitted on Friday that Ojwang had died “at the hands of the police”, calling his death “heartbreaking and unacceptable”.
The country’s leader promised to “protect citizens from rogue police officers”.
In the past four months, more than 20 people have died in police custody in Kenya, according to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
As part of the investigation into Ojwang’s death, two senior police officers and a civilian have so far been arrested.
Lagat, the deputy police chief, announced on Monday that he was temporarily stepping down from his role.
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