Why Are Kenyan Protesters Calling for Action Against Forced Disappearances?

Kenyan protesters demanded a stop on kidnappings of government critics on Monday as they walked to the streets of Nairobi. In an attempt to disperse the crowd, police sprayed protesters with tear gas; opposition politician Senator Okiya Omtatah and a number of other people were taken into custody.

Relatives of the missing people were among the hundreds of protestors who had gathered in Nairobi’s streets. Concerns have been raised by the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights regarding the increasing frequency of alleged kidnappings of government critics. The panel claims that since anti-government protests in June, 82 people have been kidnapped.

Rights organizations blame the Kenyan police, although the police have refuted the claims and maintain that they are investigating the disappearances. Some protesters blamed the government.

Okiya Omtatah said, “the government of (Kenyan) President (William) Ruto stop abducting people. These actions by the government which is targeting its critics, so this regime has become rogue and we are here to demand, to call the regime back to order. To demand that the regime follows the rule of law or it vacates office.”

After posting AI-generated pictures of the president that supporters of the administration found insulting, a number of social media users vanished. President William Ruto demanded over the weekend that the administration put an end to the kidnappings.