An activist was taken away while organizing a blood donation for injured protesters. Another said he was abducted after midnight while working at home, with his wife and three children sleeping nearby. A third man said he was beaten, blindfolded and thrown into the back of a car.
All said they had been raided by government security forces over the past two weeks after speaking out against a controversial tax increase in Kenya’s cash-strapped East African nation.
Some took part in the wave of anti-government protests that rocked Kenya after the bill was first introduced. According to Kenya’s National Human Rights Commission, at least 39 people were killed in clashes with police in June.
At least 32 people, including activists, medical staff and social media influencers, have been kidnapped or arbitrarily detained, according to interviews with human rights monitors and dozens of activists, five of whom claimed to have been captured. Some spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
They described how armed men wearing balaclavas and unmarked vehicles dragged them from streets or homes in the middle of the night, blindfolded them, beat them and interrogated them about their involvement in the protests.
“They were like a swarm of bees,” said Gabriel Oguda, a policy analyst and columnist, referring to the 2 a.m. swarms of hooded, heavily armed men who arrived at 2 a.m. the night before a major protest. of men who snatched him from his home in the capital, Nairobi.
He said they slapped him, searched his house, asked him if he had received money for organizing the protest, and then ordered him to unlock his phone. He said they threatened to chop off his thumb when he said some apps on his phone required his fingerprint to unlock.
Some of those captured are still missing, lawyers said. The disappearances have unsettled Kenya, long a pillar of stability in the Horn of Africa. Activists say the disappearances have left an indelible stain on President William Ruto’s government.
Last week, a High Court judge called the incidents “kidnappings” and cited the constitution to order the police and the National Intelligence Service, a civilian agency nominated by the president, to cease operations.
During a live discussion with Kenyans on social media site Arrived at an unknown location.
“I apologize if this is the treatment you experienced,” Mr Ruto said. “This is not right.” The president also said he promised to investigate “a new problem called kidnapping” and ensure police follow legal procedures when making arrests.
Police did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
“The kidnappings and killings show how illiberal the Kenyan government, especially the executive branch and its accompanying police force, has become,” said Njoki Wamai, an assistant professor of international relations at the American Africa International University in Nairobi.
One activist who was captured said a rifle was poised next to his head. Most of those interviewed said they were hooded and shackled for several hours, without water or food, and kept in cold rooms in an unknown location wearing scant clothing.
George Towett Diano, a human rights activist and farmer in Nzoia county in the Rift Valley, President Ruto’s stronghold, said he had been receiving anonymous phone calls for weeks urging him to stop protesting against finances. bill.
Fearing for his life, Mr. Deano, 29, decided to travel to Nairobi at the end of June. He said he was ambushed by five men with handguns before he escaped.
Mr. Deano said he was beaten, blindfolded and put into the trunk of a car. After he was interrogated for several hours, he said, the men dumped him in a town about 80 miles away. He said they took away his blood-stained clothes and left him in his boxer briefs. Since then, Mr. Deano said, he has lived in fear, with some family, friends and business associates afraid to interact with him.
“We are seen as a threat to the country,” Mr. Deano said. “But we started a movement to change this country for the better, and no amount of intimidation will make us relent.”
For many Kenyans, the latest kidnappings recall the dictatorship of Daniel Arap Moi, who was in power for 24 years from 1978 to 2002 and was plagued by corruption, kidnappings of opponents, torture and lawlessness. The haunting of execution.
“A dangerous precedent has been set,” said Faith Odhiambo, president of the Kenya Bar Association, an umbrella group of lawyers working to free protesters. “The president wants to rule, but he wants to rule with fear.”
Kenya’s Vice President Rigathi Gachagua, increasingly ostracized by President Ruto, has also blamed the National Intelligence Service for recent kidnappings and a series of extrajudicial killings last year. Amnesty International said there were 136 extrajudicial killings in Kenya in 2023, with many victims dying in police custody.
The head of the intelligence agency could not be reached for comment.
“Ruto takes Kenya back to the days of Moi,” said Ms. Wamai, the professor.
The tax increase bill was introduced in May. The tax revenue is intended to help pay off Kenya’s massive debt. But many Kenyans, angry at government excesses and burdened by high living costs, decried the legislation.
After lawmakers passed the bill on June 25, protesters stormed parliament and set part of it on fire. Authorities responded with a violent crackdown, in which hundreds of people were injured and detained. Mr Ruto rejected the bill the next day, but protesters have since called for his resignation.
On Friday, the president ordered an audit of the national debt, cuts in government office staff and spending, and retirements of government workers age 60 and older.
Government officials say the demonstrations are funded by foreign powers, but protesters deny the charge and argue they are part of a youth-driven, leaderless movement that transcends class and tribe.
“These young people are the gift Kenya has always wanted,” said Julius Owino, a musician and radio station manager whose song “Unbwogable” became a national hit in 2002, during the final days of Moi’s rule. . “Children are showing us how to stand up and be fearless,” Mr Owino said.
But for many young Kenyans, the price of protest is high.
At least one activist interviewed by The New York Times said she had been sexually harassed and intimidated. Others were told they and their families would be harmed if they spoke publicly about what happened. They were all interrogated about who their leaders were and who was funding anti-government protests.
One activist who spoke to The Times said he had been told to reveal the names of other activists. He said his interrogators told him, “‘If you want to continue to be outspoken about this bill and the government, you’d better seek asylum elsewhere,'” he said.
For now, protesters and human rights activists say a climate of fear remains widespread among those who continue to agitate against the government. Many changed their phone numbers and went into hiding. They have difficulty sleeping after a traumatic experience.
Oguda, a policy analyst and columnist, said the armed men demanded a mobile phone, put him into a car and told him to face down.
“I told myself if today was the day they were supposed to kill me, that would be it,” Oguda said. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”
He was eventually taken to a police station in a neighboring county and questioned by five police officers. Ogunda was released a day later but was never charged with a crime.
