Activist Boniface Mwangi decries state intimidation amid police assault charges
Mwangi is charged with offensive conduct under Section 94(1) of the Penal Code after allegedly using abusive language toward a police officer at the Metropolitan Court in Kilimani, Nairobi.
Activist Boniface Mwangi’s lawyer has accused the police and the state of abusing their power, saying he was injured during his April 2 arrest, yet he is now facing criminal charges instead of receiving justice.
Mwangi is charged with offensive conduct under Section 94(1) of the Penal Code after allegedly using abusive language toward a police officer at the Metropolitan Court in Kilimani, Nairobi.
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Speaking on Wednesday outside the Kibera Law Courts, Mwangi’s lawyer, James WaNjeri, condemned what he termed “a clear case of police excesses” and questioned why the activist, who was allegedly assaulted, was now being treated as the offender.
“On April 2, 2025, the police said they went to Boniface Mwangi’s office at Metropolitan Court after receiving a noise complaint. But what shocks us is that when Boniface was taken to the police station, they brutally beat him up, injured him, and he was taken to the hospital the following morning at Nairobi Hospital. The injuries he sustained are well documented,” WaNjeri said.
He added that it was disturbing that, despite clear evidence of assault, Mwangi was the one being prosecuted while the officers who allegedly attacked him were not facing any disciplinary action.
“It is saddening that the police, knowing how seriously they injured him, have now turned the situation around so that he is the suspect and they are the victims. This is one of the ways we see the police and the state abusing their powers,” WaNjeri said.
He said the case will be mentioned on November 20, adding that the defence was ready to demonstrate that “there is no case to answer.”
WaNjeri further revealed that Mwangi had already filed a complaint with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), which has completed investigations and is preparing to release its report.
“Boniface lodged a complaint with IPOA, and the agency has conducted thorough investigations. Once the report is out, we will present it in court because IPOA did an excellent job. I believe no court can look at the facts and fail to see who was cruel in this whole matter,” he said.
He criticised the filing of what he described as “baseless cases” that clog the justice system.
Activist Boniface Mwangi and his lawyer, James WaNjeri, at the Kibera Law Courts on October 8, 2025. (Photo: X/James WaNjeri)
“We continue to say that such cases, which lack merit, are the ones congesting our courts. The work of the court is to deliver justice, and I believe cases like this shouldn’t even be heard. Clearly, as Kenyans, we deserve better, and we will continue to fight this matter to the end,” he added.
According to the police charge sheet (OB No. 84/02/04/2025), Mwangi is accused of using abusive language toward Sergeant Osman Omar on April 2, 2025, at the Metropolitan Court along Airwing Kodhek Road in Kilimani. The document claims that Mwangi called the officer “a motherf***er and corrupt officer” with the intent to provoke a breach of peace.
He was arrested and later released on a Sh5,000 police bond.
However, Mwangi has denied the allegations, saying he was the victim of a violent assault by three police officers, namely, Inspector Stanley Yano, Sergeant Osman Omar and Constable Robert Ouko, who stormed his Sema Ukweli offices that evening.
In a detailed account he shared on X (formerly Twitter) on April 21, Mwangi said the officers claimed they were responding to a noise complaint, but one of them, Constable Ouko, was drunk and chewing miraa when he began to rough up people in the office.
“I tried to ask the senior officer, Inspector Yano, why Ouko was working while intoxicated and armed. That’s when all hell broke loose,” Mwangi wrote.
“Ouko tried cocking his gun to shoot me, but one of my colleagues pushed his gun away.”
He said the officers then handcuffed and dragged him out of his office while assaulting him, injuring his wrists, ribs and face.
“Ouko hit me hard on the ribs with the butt of his gun. After arriving at the police station, he followed me into the cell and assaulted me further. It was only my screams that made my colleagues outside shout at the police to stop beating me,” he recounted.
Mwangi said the Kilimani OCS, Albert Chebii, found him in pain the following morning and ordered that he be taken to Nairobi Hospital, where he underwent x-rays, a head scan and an ultrasound.
“I sustained injuries on my wrists, knee and ribs, had a busted lip, and could barely see through my left eye. After treatment, I was discharged and taken back to the police station,” Mwangi wrote.
He said he reported the assault under OB No. 84/02/04/25, but instead of action being taken against the officers, he was charged with offensive conduct. He also claimed that his watch and AirPods were taken during the arrest and have not been returned.
“I was assaulted by the police, physically injured, had my property stolen, and now I’m the one being charged with a crime? I got my first black eye at the age of 41 at the hands of a drunk officer,” Mwangi lamented.
He said he reported the matter to IPOA before travelling abroad for work, after which the police quietly filed charges against him in his absence on April 7, 2025, at Kibera Law Courts.
The case will now proceed on November 20, 2025, when Mwangi and his lawyers are expected to appear for mention.
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