NAIROBI: An armed gang attacked the headquarters of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission on Sunday as it hosted a press conference calling for an end to state violence, an AFP journalist saw.
The press conference was being held ahead of Monday’s “Saba Saba Day”, an annual commemoration of pro-democracy protests in the 1990s.
“The gate was locked but they forced themselves in. They were attacking and robbing guys, saying: ‘You are planning protests here’,“ the journalist said.
The Women’s Collective Kenya, a grassroots rights movement, had helped organise the press conference to call for “an immediate end to arbritrary arrests, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of their children for taking to the streets”.
But the meeting had yet to start when the gang of around 20 people attacked, some armed with sticks, forcing many to flee for safety.
“Armed goons have attacked offices of the Kenya Human Rights Commission,“ the Women’s Collective posted on X.
Armed “goons”, as they are widely known in Kenya, have been deployed to attack protesters in recent weeks.
Protesters marching against police violence on June 17 were attacked by hundreds of men on motorbikes armed with whips and clubs.
AFP journalists at the scene saw them working with the apparent protection of police, and some openly said they had been paid by local government leaders.
At least 19 people died on June 25 as another day of protests turned violent, with thousands of businesses looted and destroyed.
There is deep resentment against President William Ruto over economic stagnation and corruption, and anger has been fuelled by police killings and dozens of illegal detentions since large-scale protests first broke out in June 2024. – AFP
