Outrage over arrest of Kenyan software developer as regional repression grows

The Guardian

2 days ago

A Kenyan software developer who was arrested last week after creating a tool for people to express their opposition to a proposed law has been arraigned in court and released on bail, amid public anger at her detention and growing signs of repression in the east African country and its neighbours.
Rose Njeri was charged on Tuesday with 'unauthorised interference with a computer system' in violation of the country's computer misuse and cybercrime law.
Prosecutors said on the charge sheet that her tool enabled users to automatically send emails to the national assembly's finance committee, 'thereby interfering with the normal functioning of the systems'.
Njeri published a post on X on 19 May announcing her new tool. 'I wrote a simple program that lets you reject the Finance Bill 2025 with just one click. Click below to send your objection,' she said. She was arrested at her home in Nairobi on Friday, and police confiscated her electronic devices.
Her arrest sparked outrage in the country, with politicians, civil society members and Kenyans at large condemning it and calling for her release.
Activists and family members protested outside the police station where she was being held on Sunday. 'Imagine having to tell her children that she's in jail for developing a website that eases public participation for Kenyans who want to submit their proposals on the 2025 budget,' activist Boniface Mwangi said.
The executive director of Amnesty International Kenya, Irũngũ Houghton, said in a statement on Tuesday: 'It is clear to us that Rose Njeri's rights have been severally violated, and any contemplated fair trial is in jeopardy.'
Njeri's tool related to a finance bill that proposes a wide range of tax changes to increase government revenue. Experts say it may increase tax burdens and reduce Kenyans' disposable income.
A similar proposed law last year caused unprecedented protests that led to the killing of dozens of protesters and the disappearance and abduction of many more. Demonstrations reduced over time, but killings and disappearances continued with the target tending to shift towards online critics.
Njeri's arrest is in line with what observers say is a wave of repression by east African governments cracking down on dissent.
The former Kenyan chief justice Willy Mutunga and activists Hanifa Adan and Hussein Khalid were deported from Tanzania two weeks ago. They had travelled to the country to attend a hearing in a treason case against the opposition politician Tundu Lissu.
Two other people who had also gone for the case – Mwangi and the Ugandan lawyer Agather Atuhaire – said on Monday that Tanzanian security officers had sexually assaulted them.
The Police Reforms Working Group, a coalition of Kenyan rights organisations, called on the east African and international community to put pressure on the Tanzanian government to hold the officers 'responsible for the torture … and sexual assault committed against Boniface Mwangi and Agather Atuhaire' accountable.
The group spoke alongside the Law Society of Kenya at a press conference in Nairobi.
'Torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are serious crimes under multiple treaties and international law,' they said.
In Uganda, where the opposition politician Kizza Besigye has been in jail for six months over alleged treason charges, lawmakers passed a bill last month to allow civilians to be tried in military court.