Anti-tax demos: High Court upholds deployment of KDF

The High Court has upheld the deployment of the Kenya Defence Forces to assist the police in quelling the anti-Finance Bill protests.

However, in its ruling on Thursday evening, the High Court gave the government two days to state the scope, duration and areas of military intervention.

The ruling was made following a petition filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK).

The lobby challenged the gazette notice published by Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale deploying KDF to assist the police in suppressing violent protests in various parts of the country.

On Tuesday night Mr Duale issued a gazette notice declaring a national security emergency paving way for the deployment of KDF to quell the ongoing mass protests against the Finance Bill, 2024.

This was after the police who had been deployed to restore law and order especially in Nairobi, were overwhelmed by the protesters who managed to storm into the National Assembly where they caused havoc and also burnt City Hall.

On Thursday, KDF soldiers patrolled the streets of Nairobi as protesters engaged anti-riot police officers in running battles for the better part of the day.

The government, through the Attorney-General Justin Muturi, defended the deployment on grounds that the law was followed in the publication of the gazette notice, but the LSK disagrees.

LSK has argued that deployment of the military sends an alarming and chilling message to Kenyans who would otherwise have wished to hold peaceful protests. 

The lawyers’ body argues that the country may be receding into a police state, or that the government is at war with its people.

LSK president Faith Odhiambo submitted that there was no state of emergency or critical security situation in the country to justify deployment of KDF, adding that regular police can deal with the situation as they are trained to deal with civilians.