How terror squads silence voices that censure the State

On Sunday, activist Boniface Mwangi was arrested for calling for an anti-government protest during a marathon in the capital.

A day later, he was released without charge. Mwangi is among the lucky ones to be freed. Over the last few days, blogger Scophine Aoko Otieno, alias Maverick Aoko, has been missing.

Members of her family say they do not know where she is, stating Aoko had received threats and had people trailing her. On X, an aide said Aoko’s troubles began when she posted about a powerful individual in the government.

“Two weeks ago, upon her return to Nairobi, she found her main door clobbered at the hinges. She called me panicked. I asked her to take pictures and leave. Her caretaker and watchman reported that men had been hovering around, asking of her whereabouts,” said the aide.

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Their stories are the latest in a pattern that has exposed State-sanctioned impunity, which began during the youth-led uprising over tax hikes and high living costs. It involves the deployment of heavily armed, hooded men in unmarked vehicles, conducting night raids.

Victims of these squads are hardly presented in court, and neither does the public know their whereabouts. In most cases, police will deny that they are in their custody, only for the abductees to resurface dumped in a remote location, dead or alive.

Many of those who make it out alive are too afraid to recount their ordeals. Such was the case with the ‘Kitengela Three’, activists Bob Njagi, and brothers Jamil and Aslam Longton, who participated in the Generation Z-led protests. The three were abducted by persons suspected to be security agents and held for a month.

The National Police Service, then led by Deputy Inspector General Gilbert Masengeli, in an acting capacity, ignored court summons and orders to present the trio, saying they were not in police custody.

They would be freed hours before Masengeli eventually honoured the court’s summonses, later revealing the physical and psychological torture they underwent inside chambers that were common during a bygone era.

“I was whisked into a building and ushered into a small, very dark room, measuring six by four feet. I was left on the floor handcuffed and blindfolded for two days without food. I only had some water,” Njagi recounted to the press earlier this month.

“The room was completely sealed with no light during the daytime or nighttime. The only human interaction I got was when the door would be opened twice a day. In the morning, they would open and hand me a cup of tea while removing the waste bucket and replacing it with another one,” he added.

Njagi’s story mirrors that of many others abducted by alleged State functionaries, who have often followed up the release of their victims with alleged threats. Many were abducted during the protests that climaxed on June 25, when protesters stormed Parliament to protest the passing of the hated Finance Bill, 2024. Tens died.

The government has often denied any wrongdoing, with President William Ruto once describing the abductions as arrests.

Deputy President nominee Kithure Kindiki, as Interior Cabinet Secretary said police had acted professionally during the protests, terming the raid on Parliament as an attempted coup.

But no evidence has been produced of the said coup, with cases of protesters failing to take off.

Many rights groups have faulted the government’s conduct, which included documented use of excessive force, through live bullets, and wanton dispersion of tear gas canisters and water cannons.

“I think Ruto has a very low tolerance for dissent. Since June, it has been impossible to hold a demonstration guaranteed by Article 37 of the Constitution,” Mwangi told The Standard yesterday.

“Having a flag has become illegal. The flag, which has been a symbol of the resistance against bad governance, is now criminalised. When I was arrested, my wife brought me a jumper and was told she could not hand me the flag. We are moving from being a democracy to a dictatorship,” Mwangi added.