PRESS STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRWG-K DEMANDS JUSTICE FOR SLAIN PROTESTERS, ACCUSES STATE OF TRADING KENYAN SAFETY FOR U.S. CONVENIENCE

Nairobi, 4th June 2026

The Police Reforms Working Group Kenya (PRWG-K) is deeply appalled by the lethal violence meted out by security agencies against peaceful protesters in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, who were protesting the government’s secretive plan to host a United States-backed fifty-bed Ebola quarantine facility at the Laikipia Air Base.

We vehemently condemn the actions of the National Police Service, which tragically resulted in the killing of two Kenyans, severe injuries to several others, and the arbitrary arrest of thirty-six protesters. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the two Kenyans whose lives were cut short.

What makes this bloodshed uniquely egregious is that it occurred against a backdrop of complete state lawlessness. Before the Nanyuki protests, the High Court issued explicit conservatory orders temporarily halting the establishment and operationalization of this facility, pending the determination of a lawsuit filed by Katiba Institute and the Law Society of Kenya over severe public health risks and a total lack of transparency. Despite these clear judicial orders, the executive has willfully ignored them, a dangerous precedent that undermines the rule of law, breeds public distrust, and invites absolute state lawlessness.

While Kenyan citizens are being shot and detained for demanding answers, the United States State Department openly maintains its position to evacuate its nationals exposed to the Ebola virus in the region directly to Kenyan soil. Recent news reports confirm that both governments have continued to ignore the ongoing legal proceedings, with United States officials on the record stating they are hopeful of “working something out with Kenya” regardless of the domestic uproar.

Further compounding this impunity, Health Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale displayed unmitigated contempt for both Parliament and the courts during his address to the National Assembly and subsequent late-night media interview on June third. Duale insisted that the establishment of the facility would proceed, choosing to dismiss the widespread and legitimate fears of a highly infectious disease being outsourced to a fragile domestic healthcare system as mere agitation by a few Kenyans. We also condemn the statements by the US State Department that the court order was “too little too late and that the flights carrying equipment and experts were already airborne”. This open defiance undermines the core tenets of our democracy and sends a dangerous signal that the executive can choose which laws and court orders to obey.

In response to this crisis, the Police Reforms Working Group Kenya (PRWG-K) reminds the state that Kenya is a constitutional democracy governed by the rule of law, not an authoritarian regime where foreign diplomatic convenience trumps the lives and safety of its citizens.
We demand immediate accountability through the following specific calls to action:
1. Total and immediate compliance with the existing court orders, meaning the government must instantly freeze all construction, logistical movements, and development at the Laikipia Air Base regarding the Ebola quarantine site, as no state officer is above the law.
2. We call for an immediate overhaul of public order management and police accountability, demanding that the National Police Service strictly align its operations with Article 244 of the Constitution and its facilitation duties under the Public Order Act (Cap. 56), rather than weaponizing the law to criminalize peaceful assemblies and shield rogue officers from scrutiny.
3. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) conducts an expedited investigation into the operational commanders who authorized the use of live ammunition against civilians in Nanyuki and ensures the suspension and prosecution of officers who killed the two demonstrators.
4. The strict enforcement of Article 10 of the Constitution regarding meaningful public participation requires the state to cease all clandestine executive arrangements with foreign entities and instead provide full public disclosures of the terms, environmental impacts, and biosafety protocols of the proposed facility.
5. The absolute protection of the right to life and health as guaranteed under Articles 26 and 43 of the Constitution, which obligates the government to prioritize the highest standards of health for every Kenyan, irrespective of foreign international agreements or interests, as is the present case.
We will not allow Kenya to become an offshore risk-containment zone while our local democratic institutions are trampled upon. We call upon all Kenyans, civil society actors, and international partners to stand firm against this regression into state-sponsored lawlessness and to demand absolute respect for judicial processes and constitutional governance.

ENDS
For more information and interviews, contact Naomi Wambui
Mobile: +254757935314 | Email: nmwangi@imlu.org

This statement is signed by the Police Reforms Working Group, an alliance of national and grassroots organizations committed to professional, accountable, and human rights compliant policing. They include: Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), Kariobangi Paralegal Network, Defenders Coalition, Social Justice Centres Working Group (SJCW), Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya), International Justice Mission (IJM-K), HAKI Africa, Amnesty International Kenya, Women Empowerment Link, Social Welfare Development Program (SOWED), Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA- Kenya), International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ – Kenya), Transparency International Kenya, Shield For justice, Wangu Kanja Foundation, Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO), Kenyans for Peace Truth and Justice (KPTJ), Kituo cha Sheria, Article 19EA, Usalama Reforms Forum, Missing Voices Coalition, Physicians for Human Rights, Inuka Ni Sisi, Haki Yetu Trust and Peace Brigades International Kenya (PBI Kenya).