Young people on the streets, tear gas, protestors. Kenya’s capital is marked by outrage coming from its citizens organizing numerous protests problematizing the current government.
While the protest wave sparked significantly in summer 2024, with the main issue about the illegitimate changes in the country’s financial bill, the focus swiftly shifted towards the protection of human rights.
Amidst Kenya’s political turmoil, the well-known human rights defender Boniface Mwangi is again being targeted by the national police force.
After being arrested more than 7 times under questionable accusations, on 19th June 2025 Mwangi faced new charges of “supporting acts of terrorism” resulting from an inspection at his office in the outskirts of Nairobi.
According to the Kenyan police, a teargas canister as well as ammunition for a gun have been found at the site.
Validity of investigation findings
Reading about activists for peace possessing items related to firearms surely seems antithetical and eventually raises questions about a person’s credibility and image.
So, what is behind the charges of terrorism?
While it is true that the Police indeed found relatable items at his office, the facts about those were only partially disclosed or even changed.
For example, it was not mentioned that the teargas canister in Mwangi’s office was already severely damaged due to prior explosion and thus cannot be used as indicator for any terrorist activity.
Furthermore, the police stated to have found a round of 7.62 x 51mm blank ammunition without any valid firearm certificate, which turned out to be merely one used bullet.
As these facts spread across the internet and eventually reached the Kenyan civil society, hashtags with demands of Boniface Mwangi’s release circulated en masse on various social media platforms.
Therefore, the DCI (Department of Criminal Investigation) dropped charges of terrorism on 21st July 2025 and reduced the penalty to a fine of 1 million KSH.
Future of the Kenyan government
Since Boniface Mwangi openly opposes the current Kenyan government, the dropping of charges can be seen as another victory for Kenya’s human rights activists and civil society at large.
It is another testimony of how impactful the voice of Kenyan’s can be to even shape political as well as judicial decisions.
On the other hand, it must be borne in mind that dropping the charges might be merely a rational decision in order to maintain government legitimacy, which is already fading out among the population.
Considering past actions, Mwangi had a similar experience in 2015 when he was charged with toppling the government by starting a revolution; an accusation which was later dropped as well.
While this event marks a considerable win for Mwangi, the relationship between the civil society and the Ruto administration remains tense due to the extensive level of police brutality against protesters.
Therefore, further unrest and protests are highly likely to continue.
