Kenya police chief sued for contempt over Nairobi shutdown

A Kenyan rights group on Friday sued the country's police chief for contempt over the use of barricades and roadblocks during protests marking the second anniversary of the landmark "Gen Z" uprising, in which dozens of people were killed.

Nairobi was brought to a standstill on Thursday as police erected roadblocks on major roads before a memorial march for those killed by security forces during the June 2024 protests against economic hardship and corruption, which culminated in the storming of parliament.

Rights group Katiba Institute filed a contempt case against Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, accusing him of violating a 2025 court order requiring police to issue a public notice before disrupting traffic.

"Despite clear assurances from the Interior Ministry that it would be 'business as usual', heavily armed police erected unannounced barricades across major public roads leading into Nairobi's Central Business District," the group said in a statement.

"The National Police Service (NPS) once again chose to defy the rule of law."

Interior minister Kipchumba Murkomen told journalists that the Nairobi shutdown was in response to "an intelligence report that some people wanted to bring in goons and criminals to do looting and to attack innocent civilians".

The rights group argued that, based on the 2025 ruling, the blockade infringed on people's freedom of movement and "endangers lives by blocking emergency medical services and ambulances".

"Unconstitutional measures to suppress peaceful acts of remembrance are unacceptable in a democratic society", the statement read.

At least 127 people were killed during protests in June-July 2024 and a similar period in 2025, according to a police watchdog as security forces shot people with near-total impunity.