Ex-CJ Willy Mutunga among rights activists teargassed at Central Police Station

Police fired tear gas at human rights activists who had gone to the Central Police Station to demand the release of protesters arrested during Friday's Saba Saba demonstrations in Nairobi.

Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga and human rights activist Boniface Mwangi were among those teargassed at the police station on Saturday.

Activists said 75 people had been arrested and detained at the Central Police Station.

Of these, they said 26 had been processed. The rest, they said, would be processed later in the day.

The activists had been trying to get them released unconditionally but their attempts had been in vain, said Davis Malombe of the Kenya Human Rights Commission. Some of the detained protesters had been injured, he added.

"We are extremely disappointed by this action by the police, which comes 60 years after independence. Coming 30 years after multi-party politics. It comes 13 years after the adoption of the new constitution," he added.

The activists claimed that the police wanted to charge the protesters with unlawful assembly, assault and destruction of property.

The protesters were arrested on Friday during the Saba Saba demonstrations, which were called for by ODM leader Raila Odinga's supporters to protest against, among other things, the skyrocketing cost of living.

Buoyed by the Finance Act 2023, which is seen as punitive, the opposition called on its supporters to gather at Kamkunji Grounds, where Mr Odinga launched an aggressive drive to collect 10 million signatures to oust the Kenya Kwanza government.

After addressing his supporters, the former Prime Minister told his supporters to march to Central Park in the city centre.

But the convoy was met with brutal force by the police and some of the protesters were arrested. Vehicles were also damaged.

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