Kenyan pro-democracy activist Boniface Mwangi is charged with alleged possession of ammunition
The charge sheet said the suspect possessed three canisters of tear gas without lawful authorization. His attorney, Njanja Maina, told reporters on Sunday that Mwangi never possessed such items. Mwangi's wife, Njeri, in a post on the social media platform X, said on Saturday that security personnel raided their home and took the activist and his electronic gadgets while talking of terrorism and arson.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission said the ammunition charge was a trumped-up accusation. 'This pattern of inventing charges to harass and silence activists like Mwangi erodes public confidence in the independence of the justice system,' the civic group said. Mwangi is a well-known pro-democracy activist in Kenya. On X, where he has 2 million followers, he describes himself as 'The People's Watchman.' Protesters who have rocked President William Ruto's administration say they want to rid his government of corruption marked by theft of public resources and the seemingly extravagant lifestyles of politicians. They also say that Ruto, in power since 2022, has broken his own promises to working-class Kenyans.
The protests started in mid-2024 when Ruto proposed aggressive new tax measures opposed by many Kenyans.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Major Israeli rights groups brand Gaza campaign ‘genocide'
JERUSALEM: Rights groups B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel said on Monday that they had concluded the war in Gaza amounts to 'genocide' against Palestinians, a first for Israeli NGOs. Both organizations are frequent critics of Israeli government policies, but the language in their reports issued on Monday was their most stark yet. 'Nothing prepares you for the realization that you are part of a society committing genocide. This is a deeply painful moment for us,' B'Tselem executive director Yuli Novak told a news conference unveiling the two reports. 'As Israelis and Palestinians who live here and witness the reality every day, we have a duty to speak the truth as clearly as possible,' she said. 'Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians.' Israel's war in Gaza for the past 21 months began in response to an unprecedented attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023. The Israeli assault has left much of the Gaza Strip, home to more than two million Palestinians, in ruins, and according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry has killed at least 59,821 people, most of them civilians. All Gazans have been driven from their homes at least once since the start of the war, and UN agencies warn that residents face a growing threat of famine and malnutrition. The International Court of Justice, in an interim ruling in early 2024 in a case lodged by South Africa, found it 'plausible' that the Israeli offensive had violated the UN Genocide Convention. The Israeli government, backed by the United States, fiercely denies the charge and says it is fighting to defeat Hamas and to bring back Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. The reports from B'Tselem — one of Israel's best-known rights groups — and Physicians for Human Rights Israel argue that the war's objectives go further. B'Tselem's report cites statements from senior politicians to illustrate that Israel 'is taking coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip.' Physicians for Human Rights Israel's report documents what the group says is 'the deliberate and systematic destruction of Gaza's health care system.'
Arab News
5 hours ago
- Arab News
Egypt's President El-Sisi to Trump: exert all your efforts to end war in Gaza and allow entry of aid
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called on US President Donald Trump in a televised speech on Monday to exert all efforts to end the war in Gaza and to allow entry of aid to the enclave. 'He is capable of stopping the war,' El-Sisi said.
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Sudan's paramilitaries launch parallel govt, deepening the crisis
CAIRO: A paramilitary group and its allies in Sudan said they formed a parallel government in areas under the group's control, which are located mainly in the western region of Darfur where allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity are being investigated. The move was likely to deepen the crisis in Sudan, which plunged into chaos when tensions between the country's military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, exploded into fighting in April 2023 in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere in the country. The RSF-led Tasis Alliance appointed Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the commander of the paramilitary group, as head of the sovereign council in the new administration. The 15-member council serves as head of the state. The RSF grew out of the notorious Janjaweed militias, mobilized two decades ago by then-President Omar Bashir against populations that identify as Central or East African in Darfur. The Janjaweed were accused of mass killings, rapes and other atrocities. In the current war, the RSF has been accused of numerous atrocities. The Biden administration slapped Dagalo with sanctions, saying the RSF and its proxies were committing genocide. The RSF has denied committing genocide. The alliance spokesman Alaa Al-Din Naqd announced the new administration in a video statement from the Darfur city of Nyala, which is controlled by the RSF and its allied Janjaweed. Mohammed Hassan Al-Taishi, a civilian politician who was a member of a military-civilian sovereign council that ruled Sudan following the 2019 overthrow of Al-Bashir, was named as prime minister in the RSF-controlled government. Rebel leader Abdelaziz Al-Hilu, who commands the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which is active in the southern Kodrofan region, was appointed as Dagalo's deputy in the council. The SPLM-N is a breakaway faction of the SPLM, the ruling party of neighboring South Sudan. The announcement came five months after the RSF and its allies signed a charter in February in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, with the aim of establishing a parallel government in RSF-controlled areas. At the time, many countries, including the US, rejected the RSF efforts and condemned the signing by the paramilitary group and its allies of what they called 'transitional constitution' in the Kenya-hosted conference. The Foreign Ministry of the internationally recognized government in Khartoum condemned the announcement in a statement. It called it a 'fake government' and urged the international community to not engage with the RSF-led administration. The RSF-led move was likely to deepen the division in Sudan. Yasir Arman, a rebel leader, said the move is likely to prolong the conflict and divide Sudan between two rival administrations.
