President Ruto Under Fire for Deploying KDF Without Parliament Approval

Following the events of Tuesday, it was clear that Kenya’s anti-riot security apparatus was overwhelmed.

Images and videos of protesters pushing back the police over and over again blazed our TV screens, with no amount of deterrent working for the determined crowd.

All this culminated in parliament, where the police opened fire killing several protestors and injuring others.

Following this bloodshed, the crowd never accessed parliament again, but that was not before the building was ransacked, destroyed and partially burned.

With a possibility of more crowds, scattered across the city and its suburbs descending on the building at a later time or on Thursday’s round of protest, it was clear that the government needed more men.

On Thursday evening, defense Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale posted a gazette notice announcing the deployment of the Kenya Defense Forces on Kenyan streets. Perhaps for the first time in the country’s history.

President Ruto later confirmed these measures in an address to the nation at 9pm.

Not everyone however is taking this lightly, with many of the opinion that it is unconstitutional.

The part of the constitution being highlighted is Article 241 (3).

(3) The Defence Forces–

(a) are responsible for the defence and protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic;
(b) shall assist and cooperate with other authorities in situations of emergency or disaster, and report to the National Assembly whenever deployed in such circumstances; and
(c) may be deployed to restore peace in any part of Kenya affected by unrest or instability only with the approval of the National Assembly.

The president is required to seek approval from the National Assembly, and this did not happen in this case.

Miguna Miguna wrote: ”