Kenyan police have arrested prominent human rights activist Boniface Mwangi and plan to arraign him today on suspicion of facilitating “terrorist acts” linked to de@dly anti-government protests last month.

 

 

 

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said on X that detectives had arrested Mwangi at his home in Machakos County over the weekend, and had seized “two unused tear gas canisters and one 7.62mm blank round”, along with two mobile phones, a laptop, and notebooks.

 

 

 

 

In addition to the terrorism charges, Mwangi is also due to be arraigned for unlawful possession of ammunition, the X post said.

 

 

 

 

Hundreds of Kenyans took to the streets last month following the de@th in police custody of political blogger Albert Ojwang, reigniting a protest movement fuelled by anger over the cost of living and what activists say is police brutality and corruption.

 

 

 

The government-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said 19 people were k!lled in the protests on June 25 that DCI referred to in its post about Mwangi. Another 31 people died when protests flared again on July 7, the commission said.

 

 

 

The activist has denied the accusations, saying in a post on X: “I am not a terrorist.”

 

 

 

Mwangi is a well-known activist who once ran for parliament on an anti-corruption platform.

 

 

 

In the aftermath, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen described the demonstrations as “terrorism disguised as dissent” and an “unconstitutional attempt” to change the government.

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, a coalition of 37 rights organisations condemned Mr Mwangi’s arrest on “unjustified terrorism allegations”, describing it as the “latest escalation in a systematic crackdown that has seen hundreds of young Kenyans detained on fabricated terrorism charges”.

 

 

 

“What began as targeted persecution of young protesters demanding accountability has metastasized into a full-scale assault on Kenya’s democracy,” they said in a joint statement.

 

 

 

James Orengo, a veteran politician and governor of Siaya county, said it was “ridiculous to charge Boniface Mwangi and our children who have demonstrated a high level of political consciousness with terrorism”.