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100 in court over Gen Z protests as activist Bob Njagi detained for 7 days
Senior Counsel James Orengo addresses the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi where more than 100 protestors were arraigned on June 25, 2026.
What you need to know:
- The suspects faced various charges, ranging from obstructing traffic to interfering with motorists and other road users.
- Those presented before the court included 58 suspects from Shauri Moyo Police Station and 87 from Central Police Station.
More than 100 people who were arrested on Thursday during demonstrations to commemorate the June 25, 2024 anti-Finance Bill protests were arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts, Nairobi on Friday.
At the same time, courts across the country continued handling cases arising from the Gen Z anniversary protests.
The suspects faced various charges, ranging from obstructing traffic to interfering with motorists and other road users.
Some of the suspects were charged with obstructing vehicles along major roads in the city.
Some of the 100 protestors when they appeared before the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on June 25, 2026.
However, defence lawyers argued that it was the police who mounted roadblocks along all the roads leading to the city centre and therefore "the vehicles whose movement could have been inhibited were police vehicles only."
The lawyers argued that police, not the protesters, locked down Nairobi and other major cities.
According to the prosecution, the accused persons unlawfully assembled along Landhies Road on the morning of June 25, 2026, and blocked the road, disrupting transport and inconveniencing motorists during the demonstrations.
Court filings stated that the suspects allegedly obstructed traffic by piling stones on the road and setting tyres on fire, actions prosecutors said hindered the free movement of vehicles and other road users.
The accused were arrested from different parts of the city and processed through several police stations.
Those presented before the court included 12 suspects from Kamukunji Police Station, 58 from Shauri Moyo Police Station, 46 from Industrial Area Police Station and 87 from Central Police Station.
When the charges were read out, all the accused pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) withdrew charges against a young mother who had been arrested in connection with the demonstrations.
The woman was among the first group of 58 suspects brought before the court and was the only female accused in the batch.
She appeared in court carrying her toddler, prompting emotional reactions from members of the public and relatives who attended the proceedings.
The prosecution informed the court that it had decided to discontinue the case against the woman, citing her circumstances as a young mother caring for a small child.
The proceedings were marked by emotional scenes after some of the accused complained that they had gone without food while in police custody.
Former Nairobi Governor Mike Mbuvi Sonko, who was present in court, donated food for the accused.
The accused persons pleaded with the court to release them on bond. However, the trial magistrate reserved the bail ruling as the suspects were being arraigned in batches.
Kenyan activist Bob Njagi during a past interview.
Separately, a Kajiado court granted the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) seven days to detain activist Bob Njagi as detectives investigate him over an alleged treason offence.
The court also allowed investigators to retain two mobile phones seized during Mr Njagi’s arrest for forensic analysis as part of the ongoing probe.
Mr Njagi, who was picked up by detectives in Kitengela on Wednesday, a day before the Gen Z anniversary commemoration, and held incommunicado for 24 hours at an undisclosed police station, was produced before Kajiado Principal Magistrate David Mwangi on Thursday afternoon.
Detectives had sought 14 days’ custodial orders and permission to retain Mr Njagi's two mobile phones, confiscated during his arrest, for forensic analysis and extraction of data in pursuit of the treason investigation.
The magistrate, however, granted detectives seven days to hold Mr Njagi at Isinya Police Station and allowed them to retain the devices for forensic examination.
Mr Njagi will appear in court on July 2, 2026. For the past two years, the Free Movement leader has had several run-ins with security agencies.
He was among activists who were allegedly abducted in 2024 before later being released. Mr Njagi also alleged that he was abducted in Uganda in 2025 alongside fellow activist Nicholas Oyoo.
Meanwhile, 123 youths arrested on Thursday in Kajiado County over alleged incitement to violence were expected to be arraigned on Friday.
Among those arrested was Aslam Longton, one of the individuals linked to the widely publicised "Kitengela Three" case.
Police also detained a vehicle belonging to his brother, Jamil Longton, which he was reportedly driving at the time of the arrest.
Elsewhere, five people were arrested outside Quickmart Supermarket in Nanyuki on Thursday after staging protests against the proposed Ebola quarantine facility at the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) barracks.
The arrests came as Kenyans marked the anniversary of the 2024 Gen Z protests.
The group, comprising two women and three men, was dressed in white and staged a peaceful protest outside the supermarket as businesses operated normally and the streets remained largely deserted.
Non-governmental organisation Sheria Mashinani said the five were released on Friday morning after the ODPP declined to approve the charges.
According to lawyer Derrick Maingi, police had intended to charge the protesters with offensive conduct.
Meanwhile, nine protesters were presented before the Karatina Law Courts on Friday.
The media was barred from accessing the courtroom and details of the proceedings were not immediately available.
In Meru, seven suspects were arraigned in court on Thursday and charged with unlawful assembly. However, all the accused were released unconditionally.
Reporting by Richard Munguti, Stanley Ngotho, Mercy Mwende and David Muchui
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