Rose Njeri: My harrowing four days locked up in police cells

With a disarming smile, one struggles to believe that Rose Njeri is the woman who has been giving authorities sleepless nights.

A software developer, detectives pounced on Njeri, on grounds that she was the face behind a digital revolt against the Finance Bill 2025.

She was arrested on May 30, 2025, by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) who interrogated her before locking the mother of two at Pangani Police Station for four straight days.

And after being set free by the court on Tuesday, Njeri opened up to her ordeal while behind bars. Oozing confidence, Njeri says the incarceration, which thrust her in the limelight, opened up her eyes on what prisoners go through.  

"I can say what I went through is an experience that anyone would not wish to go through, spending four nights in the cells was not easy, just bare cold floor without mattress or blanket,” she shares during an interview with The Standard. 

She was picked in South B while running her errands and driven to DCI headquarters, Mazingira Complex, along Kiambu Road. After the meaning looking sleuths were done with her, a decision was made to hold Njeri at Muthaiga Police Station where it was discovered there was no single female prisoner in custody - she was taken to Pangani Police Station.   

"At that time they had confiscated my phone but I managed to convince them to allow me to call my mother so as to inform her what had transpired," she narrates adding that it was her first time to find herself in such situation. 

She later learnt while at Pangani Police Station that her crime, which she found amusing, was violating the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act. According to her, she innocently created a website that invited Kenyans to share their views on the Finance Bill 2025 - a move that rattled the government leading to her arrest and detention.

"I never imagined that creating a tool that would help the citizens understand about the budget would land me in custody," she says. 

Njeri is still amazed at the overwhelming support she received not only from human rights activists but ordinary Kenyans and lawyers who represented her in court including former Chief Justice David Maraga and Wiper leader Kalonzo. 

"I never knew my action would take a life of its own. I was surprised to hear that there was a solidarity protest outside Pangani Police Station where I got to meet big names and it showed; this made me stronger and it showed the public was concerned,” she says. 

Adding: “That was encouraging because when you are in police cells, you are disheartened thinking that whatever you have done has put your family members in trouble.”

While some people find it hard to eat in the cells, Njeri says since she is anemic, her situation meant that she had to bite something. 

“My family was always around to ensure that I get enough food because failure to eat, my condition worsens,” she states.

Njeri created a platform known as Civic email and it was intended to help Kenyans understand contents in the Finance Bill. With the help of legal minds, she had simplified versions so that Kenyans would understand with ease.

The move to create the platform was triggered by an online post by someone inquiring whether there was a social medium where one could air views on the Finance Bill. 

"That's when I decided to make it for the sake of Kenyans, and shared it and moved on before the unthinkable happened to me. But honestly, I had a feeling the Bill had some problematic clauses that Kenyans should point out," explains Njeri

When a user logs into the site, everything has been simplified. At the bottom of the site, you simply add your name and you can edit anything there.

"It does not automatically send because that is what they (DCI) are trying to manipulate while claiming it is a spamming tool. It is user generated because the user inserts their name and click to send to reach the government,"

Even so Njeri says after the experience, she will now embark on other projects to shed light on illegal stuff in the government, adding that her rights were violated. She cautions that if such actions are allowed to continue then the State would have succeeded in instilling fear among Kenyans.

She observes that it is through her ordeal that she learnt the State fears a scenario that Kenyans are more informed and knowledgeable about the wrongs that the leaders are doing.

"Most Kenyans want to do their jobs and continue with their lives in dignity, it is not a must to beg the politicians for handouts. I want an environment where I can do my work and earn money but that environment is not being enabled by the greedy people in government," she observes. 

Following her arrest and arraignment, Njeri believes the country is headed in the wrong direction citing attempts by the government to silence the dissenting voices.

"Things are getting worse, let us not allow anyone else to be abducted again because the minute we give in then they will come for me, I used to watch such things on television until it happened to me," she says. 

Njeri is quick to clarify that she does not have any political ambition at the moment pointing out that she wishes those in power to create equal opportunities for all.

“I would like to be remembered as a change-maker who played a role in ensuring that in future, the country does not end up getting a regime that disrespects human rights,” she said.