Inspector General (IG) of the National Police Service Douglas Kanja is facing contemp of court over failure by police to comply with orders requiring advance public notice before erecting roadblocks and barricades.
High Court says the entire process to block key roads leading into Nairobi’s Central Business District during the anniversary of the deadly 2024 Finance Bill protests was never lawful.
This was after Katiba Institute challenged the police action, saying the roadblocks were mounted without the advance public advisories required under the existing court order.
Justice Patricia Nyaundi ruled that IG Kanja failed to ensure compliance with conservatory orders issued by Justice Lawrence Mugambi on July 9, 2025.
Mr. Kanja is now expected to appear before the High Court on September 28, 2026, for mitigation and sentencing.
Katiba Institute Executive Director Nora Mbagathi welcomed the decision but raised concern about what she described as the growing need to use contempt proceedings to force government institutions to obey court decisions.
“Although the ruling is welcome, the increasing need to engage the government through contempt applications to secure compliance with judicial decisions does not hold up in a country that should be governed by the rule of law and constitutionalism,” Mbagathi said.
Two years on, families of those killed and went missing during the Gen Z led protests say nothing much is happening in terms of investigations.
Yet the Human Rights Watch World Report 2026 reveals that 26 people linked to the 2024 anti-finance bill protests and 15 from the 2025 demos remain missing.
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