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Finance Bill protests: Pressure mounts over whereabouts of content creator Crazy Nairobian

Police officers clash with protesters in Nairobi during a demonstration against the Finance bill 2024-2025, on June 20, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi)

By Mary Wambui | Saturday, June 22, 2024

Crazy Nairobian, real name Bill Simani, was reportedly arrested on Friday, following the anti-Finance Bill protests, and has not been seen or heard from since then.

Pressure is piling on the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to clarify the whereabouts of content creator Billy Simani, alias Crazy Nairobian, and any other person arrested over protests against the Finance Bill, 2024.

The content creator was reportedly arrested on Friday and has not been seen or heard from since then.

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In a statement on Saturday, 25 organisations said reports from Simani's family and friends indicated that he was being held by the police at an undisclosed location.

The joint statement called "for the Government of Kenya to issue a public undertaking that no content creators, or any Kenyan for that matter, will be arrested for expressing their opinion online [and] supporting the current protests."

They further sought a guarantee of freedom of expression for all Kenyans, as dictated by the Constitution.

"Lastly, we call on the independent state agencies to independently investigate these arrests with a view to holding those responsible accountable," the organisations said.

Article 47 of the Constitution states that an arrested person has rights, including being promptly informed of the reason, remaining silent and having access to an advocate and other persons whose assistance is necessary.

"We remind all state officers and the public that any infractions of this article, and forcibly abducting, holding persons incommunicado or denial of visitation rights, are crimes under our laws. Further, individual state officers can be held accountable in a court of law," the statement said.

The joint statement was by civil society groups, content creators, lawyers and medical doctors' organisations. Among them were the Bloggers Association of Kenya, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya), Amnesty International-Kenya, the Independent Medical Legal Unit (IMNLU), the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the Kenya Medical Association, and the Defenders Coalition.

They called on people with information on the whereabouts of the protesters to contact them.

Meanwhile, political consultant Dennis Itumbi has claimed that Simani was being held after a government official's complaint against him.

"I have checked with the police why Crazy Nairobian, Billy, is under arrest. I understand he sent threatening messages. I get hundreds of those myself and they do not bother me. But, well, it is a crime. I am unable to intervene, though I strongly disagree. I will reach out to the complainant to see if he/she can withdraw [sic]," he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

During a Space conversation dedicated to piling pressure on relevant agencies to declare Simani's whereabouts, Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen was hard-pressed to give answers but he said he was not aware of the matter.

"I have heard you and will pass the message to the relevant authorities. No problem. If you need my help, I'm ready," he said when asked to ensure the agencies holding Simani release him.