NAIROBI, Kenya – The High Court has issued orders barring police from restricting access to Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) during demonstrations, in a major win for civil liberties.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division granted the orders on Tuesday following a petition by the Katiba Institute.
The case challenged the growing trend of police barricading roads and denying protesters access to public spaces, particularly the CBD, in a bid to stifle demonstrations.
The court’s decision reinforces Kenyans’ constitutional right to assemble, demonstrate, and picket under Article 37 of the Constitution.
“A Police State in the Making”
In his petition, lawyer Joshua Nyawa argued that police actions — including arbitrary road closures, use of barbed wire, and forceful dispersal of protesters — amounted to a de facto suspension of constitutional rights.
“The Inspector General is abusing the security apparatus to violently silence and punish citizens voicing their opposition in the streets and online,” Nyawa submitted in court.
He told the court that the police were behaving as though Kenya was under martial law, turning it into a militarised and barbed-wire society rather than a human rights-based democracy envisioned by the 2010 Constitution.
“This country risks sliding into a police state, where the enjoyment of fundamental rights is seen as a threat rather than a guarantee,” he said.
Nyawa further argued that police failed to provide prior notice of road closures during protests, flouting normal public communication procedures — such as updates on the Kenya National Highways Authority website — and ignoring court orders issued previously to protect the right to demonstrate within the CBD.
In June 2024, police issued a controversial notice banning all protests in the city centre.
Katiba Institute challenged the move and the court suspended the ban, allowing peaceful picketing in public areas.
However, Nyawa said the police have since circumvented the ruling, continuing to block access and detain protesters unlawfully.
“Constitution Is Clear”
The court agreed with the petitioner that any limitation of rights must follow the strict standards set out in Article 24 of the Constitution.
“Blocking roads and barricading public streets to prevent peaceful protests is neither reasonable nor justifiable in an open and democratic society,” Justice Mugambi noted in his ruling.
The court’s orders are expected to curb the increasingly aggressive policing of recent protests, including those led by the youth-led Gen Z movement.
Rights groups and legal experts hailed the ruling as a crucial step in safeguarding public freedoms and ensuring state accountability.
Katiba Institute, a civil society organization known for defending constitutionalism and the rule of law, said it hopes the ruling sets a precedent against the arbitrary misuse of police powers.
