Lobby group Operation Linda Jamii has petitioned the court to direct the police to facilitate a peaceful procession to the State House in Nairobi and all State Lodges.
Court documents reveal that the group has notified the Inspector General of Police about the nationwide march scheduled for today(Tuesday, July 30).
During this event, protesters will deliver their petitions to these locations.
Operation Linda Jamii plans to include their members and supportive Kenyans in the processions, aiming to present petitions to the State House in Nairobi and state lodges in Mombasa, Kisumu, Sagana, Nyeri, Eldoret, Nakuru, Kakamega, and Kitale.
The group has voiced concerns over the police force’s previous actions against peaceful protesters. They have urged the Inspector General of Police to ensure that officers show restraint during the nationwide march.
The document highlights that, despite Kenyans’ consistent efforts to peacefully and unarmed express their discontent with the regime, they have faced severe violence, intimidation, torture, detention without trial, murder, and enforced disappearances at the hands of the State.
The petitioner also criticized the Kenya Kwanza regime for allegedly using officers to intimidate citizens, arguing that such actions breach the 2010 Constitution. They told the court, “The nation is rapidly becoming a police state. The regime is criminalizing dissent on a large scale, denying due process to those opposed to it, and the horrors of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings have resurfaced.”
They further added, “The preamble to the 2010 Constitution of Kenya acknowledges the aspirations of all Kenyans for a government based on human rights, equality, freedom, democracy, social justice, and the rule of law.”
The First Schedule of the Protected Areas Act designates the State House and State Lodges as protected areas, stipulating that unauthorized presence on these premises constitutes an offense punishable by up to two years in prison, a fine not exceeding five thousand shillings, or both.
