The High Court has ruled that all police officers deployed during demonstrations and picketing must be in uniform and not to conceal their faces.
Delivering the ruling on Wednesday, Justice Bahati Mwamuye stated, “A declaration is hereby issued that any law enforcement officer deployed to maintain law and order during an assembly, demonstration, or picketing must be in uniform and shall not, in any way, conceal their identity, including by obscuring their face, so as to remain unidentifiable.”
In his rulling Justice Mwamuye said “The conduct of police officers unmasked and in uniform who carried out unlawful arrests of individuals exercising their right to picket under Article 37 of the Constitution amounted to a violation of those individuals’ rights.”
The judge further ruled that the attempt by authorities to restrict demonstrations in certain areas was unconstitutional, stating:
“The proposed limitation on the exercise of the right under Article 37 in the subject area was blanket, overbroad, and based on mere convenience. It did not meet the threshold set out under Article 24 of the Constitution.”
The ruling came in response to a petition filed by the Law Society of Kenya LSK following the death of Rex Masai, who was shot during the June 18, 2024 Finance Bill protests in Nairobi.
LSK had sued the Inspector General and named Officer Isaiah Ndumba Murangiri as allegedly responsible for the fatal shooting of Rex Masai. While the Director of Public Prosecutions had earlier cited a lack of witnesses, the LSK insisted Murangiri was the officer involved.
