In the period following the 1982 coup attempt, as well as during the fight for multiparty politics, former President Daniel Moi used arrests and detention without trial to suppress his critics.
Many have told stories about being subjected to torture, humiliation and deplorable conditions.
Here’s an inexhaustive list of people who were either jailed or detained during the former president’s reign.
1. June 2, 1982 George Moseti Anyona: Former Kitutu East MP is detained under the Preservation of Public Security Act.
The bearded politician was at the time derisively labelled as among the “Six Bearded Sisters” in Parliament, a term said to have been coined by former Attorney General Charles Njonjo.
He was one of the many faces of political persecution.
Mr Anyona’s uncompromising opposition politics got him twice into detention twice; first under Mzee Jomo Kenyatta’s rule and when President Daniel Moi was in power.
He was detained in 1977. He was arrested in 1982 and again jailed in 1990 for sedition. He was then released on appeal in 1992.
On attaining freedom, Mr Anyona joined the political agitation for change by joining Ford (Forum For the Restoration of Democracy).
He later dumped Ford to establish the Kenya Social Congress, on whose ticket he captured the Kitutu Masaba seat in 1992 and 1997.
He was killed in a car accident in 2003 at the age of 57.
2. June 4, 1982 Veteran Nairobi lawyer John Khaminwa is detained. He was picked up by plain clothes officers at his Karen home and taken to CID Headquarters.
He was again detained in 1990 during the clamour for multi-party democracy.
3. June 7, 1982: Kenyatta University Lecturer Maina wa Kinyatti is charged with possessing seditious publications.
4. June 10, 1982 Two University of Nairobi lectures, Mr Katama Mkangi and Mr Willy Mutunga, are put into custody.
5. June 16, 1982 University of Nairobi lecturer David Mukaru Ng’ang’a is picked by police from a bar in Thika.
6. June 24, 1982 University Lecturers Alamin Mazrui and David Mukaru Ng’ang’a are detained. They were detained under the Public Security Regulations.
7. July 15, 1982: University Lecturers Kamoji Kang’aru Wachira and Edward Akong’o Oyugi are detained. Both taught at Nairobi’s Kenyatta College. Mr Wachira taught geography and Dr Oyugi was in the Psychology department.
8. July 19, 1982: Nairobi Journalist Wangondu Kariuki is jailed for four and half years for possessing seditious publication. Chief Magistrate Abdul Rauf said the publication Pambana organ of the December 12 Movement was “manifestly seditious.”
9. August 12, 1982: Nakuru North MP Koigi wa Wamwere and University of Nairobi lecturer Willy Mutunga are detained. Koigi was among the ‘Six Bearded Sisters’ group.
10. Kenneth Matiba: The The firebrand politician was detained in July 1990 for agitating for Kenya’s return to multiparty politics.
While in detention, Matiba suffered a stroke on May 26, 1991 but government officials did not get him medical attention.
He was detained in that state for a week.
11. September 22, 1982 : Raila Amolo Odinga, a son of former Vice-President Odinga Odinga, is charged with treason. He was tortured and held in terrible conditions following the failed 1982 coup. His detention lasted nearly six years. He was detained again in 1989 and 1991. He detailed his troubles in his autobiography.
12. September 15, 1982: Seventeen servicemen of the disbanded Kenya Air Force are jailed by a court martial for terms ranging from 12 to 25 years and dismissed from the armed forces.
13. September 23, 1982: Sunday Standard Assistant Editor Otieno Mak’ Onyango is charged with treason.
14. September 24, 1982: Nairobi University student leader T.A Oloo is jailed for ten years for sedition.
15. October 18, 1982: Kenyatta University College lecturer Maina wa Kinyatti is jailed for six years for possessing a seditious publication.
16. December 6, 1982: Kenya Air Force Corporal Walter Odira Ojode is sentenced to death for treason by court martial.
17. January 18, 1983: Former Kenya Air Force Commander Peter Mwagiru Kariuki is jailed for four years for failing to suppress and prevent a mutiny.
18. April 14, 1983: Prof Vincent Otieno detained, along with Raila Amolo Odinga and Editor Otieno Mak’ Onyango.
19. October 12, 1983: Prof Alamin Mazrui of Kenyatta University and Nairobi Lawyer John Khaminwa are freed from detention. At the same time Jaramogi Oginga Odinga is no longer under House arrest.
21. February 29 1984: Snr Private Hezekiah Awuor Ochuka is charged with treason in Nairobi.
22. April 17, 1984: Nairobi University Lecturer David Mukaru Ng’ang’a is released from detention.
23. April 26, 1985: A Senior Engineering lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Mr Musa Otieno Adongo, is charged with sedition.
24. Lawyer and former Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara was arrested and detained over his involvement in the push for multi-party democracy.
24. Cpl Michael Collins Owino: Worked in the Air Force at the time of the 1982 coup. He was arrested following a crackdown on the military.