NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 12 – Former Chief Justice and 2027 presidential aspirant David Maraga has sharply condemned what he described as a disturbing pattern of police violence and impunity, demanding that security agencies publicly explain the deployment of hooded officers during demonstrations in Nanyuki and the presence of armed plain-clothes officers inside a university hostel.
In a statement issued Friday, Maraga said the recent killings of protesters in Laikipia County and the shooting of students at Multimedia University represented serious violations of constitutional rights and raised urgent questions about police accountability.
“I speak today with a heavy heart and a conscience that will not stay silent,” Maraga said, warning against what he termed the growing normalization of excessive force by law enforcement officers.
His remarks follow violent demonstrations in Nanyuki, where three people were reportedly killed and at least 50 arrested after police dispersed protesters using live ammunition.
Among the dead, Maraga said, was a man who had closed his shop to avoid the unrest but was allegedly shot while heading home.
He further accused police of targeting journalists covering the demonstrations and criticized the use of masked officers who could not be identified.
“The hooded officers in Nanyuki deserve particular attention,” he said. “When a state agent covers their face while executing a state function, they sever the chain of accountability that democracy depends on.”
Maraga also expressed concern over events at Multimedia University of Kenya’s Rongai campus, where students protesting the suspension of examinations allegedly encountered armed officers who entered hostels and fired live rounds.
According to Maraga, four students were shot during the confrontation, including Victor Kariuki, who remains hospitalized with a bullet lodged near his spine.
“These are students. Kenya’s students,” he said. “They were met not with dialogue but with armed officers.”
The former Chief Justice argued that the actions of police in both incidents violated Article 37 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to peaceful assembly, demonstration, picketing and petition.
He stressed that the right to protest is not a privilege granted by authorities but a fundamental constitutional freedom.
“When police officers ban demonstrations, deploy hooded operatives who cannot be identified or held to account, and fire live ammunition into crowds of unarmed citizens, they are not enforcing the law. They are violating it,” he stated.
Maraga emphasized that both the National Police Service Act and police standing orders require force to be used only as a last resort and in proportion to the threat posed.
He argued that neither demonstrators in Nanyuki nor students protesting examination issues at Multimedia University posed an imminent threat that could justify the use of lethal force.
The former CJ called on the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to urgently investigate the Nanyuki killings and the Multimedia University shootings, saying accountability could not be delayed.
He also urged the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to review available evidence, including CCTV footage from the university, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought against those responsible.
Most significantly, Maraga challenged IG Douglas Kanja to publicly explain the deployment of hooded officers during the Nanyuki operation and the presence of armed plain-clothes personnel inside student hostels.
“I call on the Inspector General of Police to account publicly for the deployment of hooded officers in Nanyuki and for the presence of plain-clothes armed officers inside a university hostel,” he said.
Maraga linked the incidents to unresolved cases arising from the June 2024 anti-government protests, noting that families of victims were still waiting for justice nearly two years later.
“We are days away from the second anniversary of June 25, 2024. And yet here we are again, with fresh deaths, fresh bullets in fresh bodies,” he said.
Warning that repeated incidents of alleged police brutality risk eroding public confidence in state institutions, Maraga said accountability—not grief or outrage—was the true test of justice.
“A government that cannot protect its citizens from its own security forces has a legitimacy problem it cannot solve with press statements,” he said.
He urged Kenyans to defend constitutional freedoms and reject the normalization of violence against peaceful protesters, students and journalists.
“The dead in Nanyuki deserved better. Victor Kariuki deserved better. Kenya deserves better,” Maraga said. “And we must be the generation that insists on it.”
