NAIROBI, 10TH AUGUST 2026: Odipo Dev and Amnesty International Kenya (AIK) have released a report documenting a sharp rise in protests across Kenya, continued use of live ammunition and the high number of arrests and injuries during protests, signaling a deepening human rights and governance crisis. The Kenya Freedom Index documented 1,292 protest events across the country between January 2025 and June 2026. Of these, 839 occurred in 2025, while 453 were recorded in only the first six months of 2026. This represents a 29% increase in protests during the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025. 

For over a decade, Kenyans have buried protesters, treated life-changing injuries and watched cycles of violence repeat on our streets and in our communities. A new draft Freedom of Assembly Bill offers a chance to break this pattern. What does it get right, where does it depart from previous bills, and what must be strengthened to ensure that demonstrations are protected, not punished?

Post about a breaking news event, share an unverified allegation, or even repeat a rumor in a WhatsApp group, and until this year you could, in theory, have faced up to ten years in prison. That was the potential consequence of Sections 22 and 23 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act, which criminalized the publication of “false” information using broad and vaguely defined offences. The provisions cast a long shadow over anyone with access to a phone or the internet. On 6 March, however, the Court of Appeal struck them down. In a case brought by the Bloggers Association of Kenya, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) Kenya, Article 19 and others, the court called them so broad they were “like unguided missiles.” 

In December 2025, Australia became the first country in the world to bar anyone under 16 from holding a social media account. Within a day, its own prime minister was dealing with the predictable result. Teenagers flooded the comment section on Anthony Albanese’s TikTok account, including one that read, “I’m still here, wait until I can vote.” A 14-year-old, in New South Wales, had already told the Washington Post weeks earlier that she planned to log back into Snapchat and Instagram using her mother’s Face ID. On Reddit, teenagers traded tips on beating facial age checks, including printing a mesh face mask bought from Temu. The free VPN app Windscribe reported a 400 percent jump in Australian downloads in the first 24 hours after the law took effect. Leonardo Puglisi, the teenage founder of the youth outlet 6 News Australia, said his platform barely felt the impact at all.

Now firmly etched in the national conscience, the second anniversary of 25 June 2024 thankfully passed without fatalities and few injuries. The mothers of those we commemorated once again turned private grief into another historical moment of national resistance.

Thursday, 25 June 2026 | Nairobi, Kenya — The Police Reforms Working Group (PRWG) condemns in the strongest terms the widespread violations of constitutional rights witnessed during the Gen Z memorial protests held across Kenya on 25 June 2026.

Listening to the State House speeches and reading the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights Reparations Framework, I agree with transitional justice expert Tina Alai’s observation. While the moment is significant, it is not yet historic. What clarity does the Framework offer victims and a nation traumatised by state violence and what must the State do next?

The midnight home arrest of Officer in Charge of Police Station Dishon Angoya during another week of protests, perhaps not wholly surprising, was still unsettling. What does it reveal about how state power is being exercised?

Nairobi, 12 May 2026: Amnesty International Kenya is deeply concerned by the growing pattern of journalists being obstructed from performing their professional duties to report on public and political events between February and May 2026. Journalists covering political or public events have been harassed, obstructed, and physically attacked. Recently documented cases included the violent assault of journalists at a political rally in Trans Nzoia County. Reporters were beaten, equipment damaged, and footage, forcibly deleted. In Nairobi and Nyeri, journalists have been threatened, blocked, or ejected from political events despite identifying themselves as being part of the media. Reporters publicly complained of being threatened and denied access during recent Presidential functions including the Naivasha Education Conference and the ongoing Africa Forward Summit.

Following the most compromised election in the history of Tanzania last year, Samia Suluhu’s comments at the business conference this week were hard-faced, honest and habitual. Sadly, she represents a troubling new breed of politicians who threaten violence against their own youth with disturbing ease.

Kisumu High Court’s 25 March judgment this week, awarding Sh 38.6 million to 28 victims and families, validates their long-ignored cries for justice. It confirms what human rights organisations, opposition politicians, and the media have extensively documented. Police violence during the 2023 “Sufuria” protests was deliberate, excessive, and brutally unlawful. What implications does this ruling have for the victims and the path to reparations and justice for all whose rights are violated while exercising the right to expression and assembly?

With the legal hurdles now cleared, compensation for victims of violent policing during protests is back on the table. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, now affirmed as the constitutional body tasked with delivering the President’s pledge, must define its path and steer clear of new obstacles.