The arrest of four people linked to the alleged irregular release of expired industrial chemicals from the Port of Mombasa has cost the offices of the Inspector-General of Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Sh2.2 million in damages.
The High Court ruled that the arrests and detention of the four violated their constitutional rights, including their right to dignity and freedom from arbitrary arrest.
“I find and hold that the manner of the arrest and detention of the petitioners and, in particular, the confiscation of their telephones without alternative means of communication, the failure to notify their family or employer, violated their right to dignity,” the court said.
The judge noted that although police officers arresting people suspected of serious offences were not expected to treat them like “guests of honour”, there was a wide gap between the requirements of a lawful arrest and what happened in this case.
The court singled out Hannah Nyamweru Kamau, who was 39 weeks pregnant when she was arrested. Officers confiscated her phone, denied her prescribed medication and transported her about 500 kilometres to Mombasa overnight without informing her family. Her two young children were left without an explanation of their mother’s whereabouts.
Kamau was awarded Sh1 million, the highest compensation, after the court found that she had been arrested without just cause and was never charged.
Peter Kamunge Mwaniki was awarded Sh500,000 for unlawful arrest and detention for more than 60 hours before being taken to court. Eunice Muthoni Mwangi, who was also arrested without just cause and taken to Mombasa but never charged, was awarded Sh500,000.
Daniel Makumi Mwaniki received Sh200,000 for the unlawful manner of his re-arrest in September 2025, which the court found had apparently disregarded an existing anticipatory bail order.
“These awards shall be borne by the IG and DCI jointly and severally, the organs whose officers effected the arrests and detentions found to be unconstitutional,” the court said.
However, the court declined to stop or cancel the criminal proceedings against Kamunge and Makumi, leaving them free to challenge the evidence before the trial court.
The four are employees and proprietors of Hanny General Hardware Limited, which operates two shops in Kariobangi North, Nairobi. They told the court that plain-clothes officers raided the shops on March 18 and 19, 2025, ransacked them and arrested Kamunge, Kamau and Muthoni without explaining why.
Their mobile phones were confiscated, and they were taken to Mombasa without their families being informed. Relatives who searched for them at police stations in Nairobi were told that they had not been booked there.
The petitioners argued that their treatment violated their rights to liberty and dignity, as well as safeguards governing arrests, communication with family and access to medical assistance.
The IG and DCI maintained that the arrests were lawful and part of an investigation into the alleged theft and irregular release of expired industrial chemicals from the port.
In an affidavit, investigating officer Corporal Leonard Siele said the inquiry followed an anonymous intelligence report and confirmation from the Kenya Ports Authority that three containers of Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulphate had been irregularly removed from the port between February 13 and March 1, 2025.
Investigators alleged that the chemicals were delivered to a storage facility in Kariobangi owned by Makumi, where they were received by him and Kamunge. They also alleged that Makumi transferred Sh60,000 through mobile money to a suspect believed to have organised the theft. Officers said they recovered an empty plastic drum bearing a label matching that of the stolen chemical near the three petitioners.
The respondents said Kamunge and Kamau were released on cash bail on March 20, 2025, within the required 24 hours. Makumi allegedly evaded arrest, leaving his phone behind. They argued that the petition was an attempt to derail a legitimate investigation and prosecution.
The court, however, questioned why police arrested the petitioners after the investigation file had been forwarded for a prosecutorial decision, yet their names did not appear on the earlier list of suspects.
It also cited the absence of a recovered inventory and contradictory custody records. The judge clarified that failure to charge a suspect does not, by itself, make an arrest unlawful. In this case, however, the evidence supported the finding that the arrests of Kamunge, Kamau and Muthoni were arbitrary and without just cause.
