Karua condemns violence during June 25 memorial protests and calls for justice
The People’s Liberation Party (PLP) leader, Martha Karua, has denounced the violence inflicted on Kenyans who participated in the first‑anniversary protests commemorating the 2024 anti‑government demonstrations.
In an official statement dated Thursday, June 26, 2025, Karua condemned the violence, media blackouts by the government, and the continuing pattern of impunity observed during the peaceful demonstrations.
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Karua emphasised that police disruption, the use of live bullets, the illegal arrest of the peaceful protestors and the Communications Authority’s disruption of broadcast services constitute a betrayal of the Constitution and of every Kenyan’s dignity.
“Yesterday, across more than twenty counties, Kenyans took to the streets not in anger, but in pursuit of justice. From Mombasa to Nakuru, Kisumu to Nairobi, Uasin Gishu to Kajiado, Makueni to Nyeri and beyond, they marched, stood, and raised placards and their voices, not to destroy, but to remember. To honour lives lost in the same struggle exactly one year ago. And to demand a nation that values every citizen equally, “Karua stated.
“It is not normal to count our children’s bodies on the pavement; it is not normal for peaceful protests to be met with live bullets, illegal arrests, and a digital blackout. The use of force by law enforcement agencies, the Communications Authority’s disruption of broadcast services, and the government’s complicit silence on the lives lost is a betrayal of the Constitution and of every Kenyan’s dignity.”
Call for justice
In addition, Karua added that as a defender of the Constitution and a lifelong advocate for human rights, she will not retreat or surrender.
She also called for justice led by a bold, brilliant, and boundary-defying generation that had intensified the fire within her, a fire that had burned since her youthful years.
“As a mother, a citizen, a defender of the Constitution, and a lifelong advocate for human rights, I mourn the lives lost, the hopes extinguished, and the futures fractured. But I will not retreat. I will not surrender to despair. But I will not retreat,” she added.
“I will not surrender to despair. Because this new wave of civic courage, this call for justice led by a bold, brilliant, and boundary-defying generation, intensifies the fire that has burned in me since my youthful years.”
