Wiper party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has condemned police action against Saba Saba protesters, accusing security agencies of violating constitutional rights through arrests, roadblocks, excessive force and alleged abductions during demonstrations held to mark the 36th anniversary of the pro-democracy movement.
In a statement issued on July 7, Kalonzo said the young Kenyans who took to the streets were continuing the struggle started in 1990 by reformists who defied the one-party state to demand multiparty democracy.
“Kenya remembers you, and we honour your sacrifices,” Kalonzo said in tribute to Raila Odinga, Kenneth Matiba, Masinde Muliro, Charles Rubia, Martin Shikuku, James Orengo and other Saba Saba pioneers.
He said the protests by young people, including Gen Z activists, should be viewed within the wider history of Kenya’s democratic struggle, not as criminal activity.
“When our young people march peacefully to demand an end to abductions and extrajudicial killings, they are not lawbreakers,” he said. “They are Kenyans exercising a constitutional right that their elders bled for.”
Kalonzo cited Article 37 of the Constitution, which guarantees citizens the right to assemble, demonstrate, picket and present petitions to public authorities.
He said the deployment of police officers, erection of roadblocks and closure of major roads amounted to an attempt to limit the freedoms of movement, assembly and peaceful protest.
The Wiper leader further accused plainclothes and masked officers of seizing young Kenyans and forcing them into unmarked vehicles while concealing their identities, saying such actions disregarded the rule of law and existing court orders.
“This is not policing. This is intimidation in service of a regime that fears its own people,” he said.
Kalonzo also raised concern over what he described as a growing pattern where police officers allegedly fail to act against organised gangs and militia groups accused of attacking citizens. He cited incidents involving the Linda Mwananchi team in Kisii, an attack at a hotel in Westlands, Nairobi, and violence along Thika Road.
He said such conduct undermines public confidence in the National Police Service and has no place in a constitutional democracy.
Quoting the police motto, “Utumishi Kwa Wote — Service to All,” Kalonzo urged officers to serve the constitution and all Kenyans, rather than any political administration.
He also condemned what he termed escalating attacks on opposition leaders, independent media and dissenting voices, warning that political intolerance risked taking the country back to the era Saba Saba sought to end.
“A nation cannot claim to be democratic while intimidating political competitors, silencing the press and criminalising peaceful dissent,” he said.
Kalonzo demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all Kenyans arrested while peacefully demonstrating. He also called for disciplinary action against security agencies whose conduct, or failure to act, may have contributed to violations of citizens’ rights.
“Peaceful protest is not a crime,” he said. “It is a right expressly guaranteed under Article 37 of the Constitution.”
The opposition leader said a future government formed after the August 10, 2027 General Election would pursue comprehensive police reforms, including independent investigations into abductions and deaths in custody.
He also pledged to end the use of unmarked vehicles and unidentified officers against civilians, saying Kenya needs a police service that answers to the Constitution rather than political power.
Kalonzo framed this year’s Saba Saba commemoration as a bridge between the reformists of 1990 and today’s young protesters, saying both generations are united by the pursuit of “a freer, more just, and more democratic Kenya.”
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