Homa Bay Town MP Peter Opondo Kaluma has called on the National Police Service to arrest protesters, saying lawful demonstrations against the punitive Finance Bill 2024 which was withdrawn are over.
In a statement on Friday, August 9, 2024, Kaluma stated that the current individuals engaged in the protests were ‘saboteurs’.
“The right to demonstrate exists to advance good courses. Lawful demonstrations over Finance Bill, 2024 long ended. What we now have are anarchists destroying Kenya’s economy under the guise of exercising the right to demonstrate. Arrest and prosecute all the saboteurs,” Kaluma said.
The remarks come after Azimio la Umoja – One Kenya coalition party spokesperson Makau Mutua stated that the clamour by the youthful generation Zs was over and that the country should strive to attain the ideals fronted by youth.
“The Gen Z revolt is over, but its ideals aren’t dead. A more cataclysmic reckoning is coming unless Kenya works hard and unceasingly to meet those ideals,” Mutua said on X.
Nane-Nane protests
The Thursday, August 8, 2024, demos saw at least 174 people arrested across the country. Among these, 126 arrests were made in Nairobi alone, while 22 and 26 people were apprehended in Kitengela and Emali respectively.
Acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli lauded the public for maintaining peace during the demos dubbed Nane Nane, stating that a few efforts by criminals attempting to loot property were thwarted.
“The National Police Service would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all law-abiding Kenyans for preserving peace; and maintaining law and order across the country,” Masengeli noted.
Masengeli stated that the demos were largely peaceful, with only one police officer getting injured in Nairobi.
The previous protests witnessed huge numbers of casualties, with police officers being accused of heavy-handedness.
Following the killing of at least 42 individuals during the protests, according to government figures, pressure mounted on former Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome leading to his resignation in July.
Civil rights bodies, however, place the deaths at more than 60, with hundreds of others injured.
President William Ruto in July indicated in a public address to the nation that all the victims of police brutality would be compensated including families of those that lost their loved ones.
It remains unclear whether the state has begun compensating the victims of police excesses during the protests.
Appearing before a parliament committee on appointment on Friday, August 9, 2024, the nominee for Attorney General of Kenya Dorcas Oduor underscored the need for operationalising the Victims Compensation Act and board which is domiciled at the office of the Attorney General.
