Court Blocks Police Ban on Planned Kenyan Youth Protests in Nairobi CBD

The High Court has intervened to suspend the decision by the Acting Inspector General of Police, Douglas Kanja, to prohibit public demonstrations planned by Kenyan youth in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).

On Wednesday evening, the Inspector General had announced a ban on protests within Nairobi for an unspecified period, citing the massive destruction of property and loss of lives due to the infiltration of criminal elements into the protests that began in June.

However, Justice Bahati Mwamuye has now issued a conservatory order on Thursday afternoon, suspending the police’s decision pending the hearing and determination of a petition filed by the Katiba Institute challenging the protest ban.

As per the court’s order, the “National Police Service’s decision carried in the Press Release dated 17/07/2024 that was titled ‘PLANNED PUBLIC DEMONSTRATIONS BY KENYAN YOUTHS ON JULY 18, 2024’ and which was signed by the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Douglas Kanja Kirocho” has been suspended in terms of its prohibition of any and all demonstrations within the Nairobi CBD and surrounding areas.

The court has also barred the Inspector-General of Police and all other persons serving within the National Police Service, or acting in support of the National Police Service, from applying or enforcing the ban announced on Wednesday.

In its petition, the Katiba Institute argues that it is in the public interest to allow people to exercise their right to demonstrate peacefully and unarmed, and that the police should serve the people who assemble by protecting them and not using excessive force against them.