.jpg) |
| Interior CS Kithure Kindiki |
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki has denied reports that the government abducted some Kenyans before, during and after the anti-Finance Bill protests.
Though a section of social media activists claimed they had been abducted by security forces and held incommunicado, Kindiki said those were arrests and abductions.
The CS noted that President William Ruto’s government does not support abductions even as he moved to defend police against backlash.
“We do not condone abductions neither does the Constitution allow either abductions or enforced disappearances or even torture,” Kindiki said.
“We have a very vibrant Constitution and the government has no legal capacity to roll back on Constitutional guarantees.”
He added:
“From where we sit, the people who have been put in custody, have been put in custody through arrests. There have been no abductions.”
He spoke in an interview with Citizen TV on Thursday.
On the manner and time the alleged arrests were conducted, Kindiki said that it is the prerogative of the police to decide how to arrest the suspect.
He said that depends on the magnitude of the crime the suspects are believed to have or planning to commit.
“You can be arrested any time of day or night,” Kindiki said.
“What perhaps needs to be addressed going forward is transparency on how police officers make a decision on arrests and how that arrest should be executed. We are developing a framework through Parliament.”
Last week, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya leadership handed over a report on at least 39 missing persons from the anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
LSK, led by President Faith Odhiambo, lodged a formal report to the Director of Criminal Investigation, requesting an investigation into the alleged series of abductions.
Several other people suspected to have led the protests were picked by plain cloth police officers and would be detained for days before they were released.
Those who were mainly targeted in the abductions were those who were deemed vocal in support of it on social media and the streets.