Activist Boniface Mwangi was arrested and detained at the Nairobi Central Police Station following his arrest at the Central Business District (CBD) on Thursday afternoon.
Mwangi was among those picked up by police during a march to honour victims of the ongoing anti-government protests.
Haki Africa’s Hussein Khalid was also briefly arrested while taking part in a peaceful protest to commemorate lives of those lost in protests Thursday at the Kenyatta Market in Nairobi.
Reports suggest Khalid was released.
Separately, Shadrack Kiprono, popularly known on social media as as Shad Khalif, was also arrested at Java Kimathi Street.
All three are being held by police, with Mwangi’s lawyer James Wanjeri confirming that he was at Central Police Station, while Kiprono said he was being processed at the JKIA police station.
Others who were arrested and are still in custody include Caroline Nduku Mutisya, mother of Ericson Mutisya, who was killed by police during the protests. Iwo other relatives of Evans Kiratu, who was killed by a tear gas cannister during the protests, were also arrested.
According to witnesses Khalif was arrested along with the establishment’s security guard.
Approximately 30 minutes later, the police from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) returned to the restaurant and demanded to be shown a carton box that they claimed had pro-protest posters.
They proceeded directly to the top floor where they found an empty carton box, which they alleged previously contained several t-shirts and posters. However, only one poster was found in the box.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) condemned the arrests and demanded their release.
“Free Boniface Mwangi and Hussein Khalid. We won’t stop demanding that the officers responsible for the deaths of innocent Kenyans be held accountable,” KHRC posted on X.
Prior to their arrest, Mwangi had posted on the social media platform this morning to inform followers on the meeting point for the protesters.
“See you on Kimathi Street at 11am. Let’s escort the families of our heroes to the crime scene to lay flowers. If you see Raila anywhere, record a video calling him a traitor, let that old man spend the rest of his life knowing he betrayed Kenyans for a few coins,” Mwangi.
They were dressed in matching white t-shirts while carrying crosses bearing the names of the fallen protesters and marching through the CBD when masked officers accosted them and tossed Mwangi on the back of a waiting police vehicle.
Police said dozens of protesters were arrested in the protests.
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