Acting Police IG calls for peaceful protests, warns of goons infiltration

Acting Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja urged protesters to remain peaceful and vigilant on Tuesday, warning that the service is aware of plans by criminals to infiltrate the protests happening in different parts of the country.

In a statement that denotes an obvious change of tone in police communications on the ongoing series of anti-government protests, the IG called on protesters to cooperate with the police to ensure their safety is guaranteed.

"This morning, we received credible intelligence indicating that certain organized criminal groups have planned to infiltrate, disrupt, and destabilise the peaceful nature of the demonstrations which could potentially jeopardize the safety of demonstrators," the IG said.

Kanja, who is managing the first protest at the helm of police leadership, days after the resignation of the immediate former Inspector General Japhet Koome reiterated that the officers deployed in the streets have been tasked with upholding the rule of law, maintaining law, and order and ensuring that every Kenyan enjoys their constitutional rights.

"While you demonstrate, we urge you to remain peaceful and vigilant. Please collaborate, cooperate, and coordinate with the police to ensure your safety and our collective security as Kenyans are guaranteed during the event," he added.

Tuesday's protests are centred on demands for accountability for lives lost during the previous protests.

"If you can't take part in the protests, stay home in memory of the heroes we have lost in the peaceful protests, and in solidarity with the GenZs who are fighting for a better Kenya," Activist Boniface Mwangi said in a post on his X platform on Monday evening.

Already, multiple protesters have been arrested in Nairobi and Eldoret.

The protests that began with a call to drop the Finance Bill, 2024, with time morphed into calls for more government accountability over its expenditure and decisions affecting ordinary Kenyans and calls for an end to the current leadership under the hashtag #RutoMustGo.

The protests have begun in several parts of the country including Kajiado and Kisii as an uneasy calm engulfs Nairobi where the protests are expected to kick off anytime.

Multiple business owners have closed down their shops in the CBD ahead of the protests.