Latest news with #RoseNjeri
First Post
14 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
Kenya: Ruto Govt Arrests Activist For Cybercrime Over Finance Bill Criticism
Kenya: Ruto Govt Arrests Activist For Cybercrime Over Finance Bill Criticism | Firstpost Africa Kenya: Ruto Govt Arrests Activist For Cybercrime Over Finance Bill Criticism | Firstpost Africa | N18G Rose Njeri, a Kenyan software developer and digital activist, was arrested after creating an online tool that allowed citizens to oppose the controversial Finance Bill 2025 with a single click. The bill proposes new taxes on essentials and digital services, which critics say could worsen the cost of living. Authorities charged her under Kenya's cybercrime law, claiming her tool disrupted parliamentary systems. Her arrest sparked nationwide outrage, with activists, civil society, and legal groups calling it an attack on free speech and public participation. Though released on bail, Njeri's case has intensified concerns about a growing crackdown on dissent in East Africa, especially as similar cases of repression and rights violations surface in neighbouring countries like Tanzania. See More
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Outrage over arrest of Kenyan software developer as regional repression grows
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.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Rose Njeri: Kenyan software developer's detention sparks outrage
Kenyans have expressed outrage over the detention of a software developer who created a tool to help people oppose the government's annual finance bill because of fears that it will raise the cost of Njeri was detained on Friday after police raided her home in the capital, Nairobi, and seized electronic devises, activists said. Police and the government have not yet commented on the detention of the mother of protests broke out last year after the government proposed tax hikes, forcing President William Ruto to withdraw the 2024 finance bill. The bill outlines the government's spending priorities for the next financial year, and how it intends to raise least 50 people were killed and dozens were abducted in a security force crackdown to end the protests that broke out last Society of Kenya (LSK) president Faith Odhiambo told the BBC Newsday radio programme that Ms Njeri's detention was a "recurrence of dictatorship".The 'tax collector' president sparking Kenyan angerBBC identifies security forces who shot Kenya anti-tax protestersOn Sunday, a group of activists gathered outside a police station in Nairobi, where the software developer is being held, to demand her release. Ms Odhiambo said that Ms Njeri - whom activists visited in prison - was "crestfallen" because with Monday being a public holiday, she had not yet been brought to to get her released on bail had failed, she added. "This has always been a government way of oppressing, intimidating and suppressing citizens because they know the courts don't sit over the weekend – and now we have a public holiday," Ms Odhiambo said. Boniface Mwangi, one of the activists who had visited Ms Njeri in custody, said she told them that police had ransacked her house and taken her phone, laptop and hard said she was worried about her two children."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," he said on Njeri was detained after sharing a link to a site that flagged clauses in the bill that she said would lead to the cost of living escalating. It also allowed people to email parliament, calling for the bill to be also raised concern that a proposal to amend tax procedures, allowing the tax authority to access personal data without a court order, could undermine privacy rights. The new finance bill replaces the zero-rated tax provision on essential commodities with tax-exempt status. Zero-rated goods are taxed at 0%, and suppliers do not charge value-added tax (VAT) to customers but can still claim input VAT on the materials used in producing these goods. Tax-exempted goods are also not subject to VAT but suppliers cannot claim back input VAT, leading to higher prices for consumers or reduced profit margins for businesses, economists and activists minister John Mbadi recently admitted that tax-exempt goods may be "slightly more expensive" but explained that the move was necessary to close tax said the government had determined that traders do not pass the zero-rating benefit to consumers, while some make "fictitious and fake" claims for is scheduled to present the government's spending and tax proposals in parliament next week, Ruto apologised to Kenyan youth for "any misstep" in dealing with them since he took office in 2022. Last month, he said that all the people who had been abducted after last year's protests against tax hikes had been "returned to their families". You may also be interested in: How Kenya's evangelical president has fallen out with churchesKenyan president's humbling shows power of African youthProtesters set fire to Kenya's parliament - but also saved two MPsMourning mother's anger at Kenyan migrant smugglers Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
Time of India
4 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Kenyan rights groups condemn arrest of protest site developer
Representative Image (AI-generated) Kenyan rights groups have condemned the arrest of a software developer who built a platform opposing a contentious finance bill, warning that it reflected an intensifying crackdown on dissent. The East African country has been cracking down on critics of the government since massive protests last June against tax rises and corruption. Security forces are accused by rights groups of killing at least 60 people during the protests and abducting dozens more in the aftermath. On May 19, developer Rose Njeri shared a link to her website on X, saying it was built to oppose a new finance bill, which she warned would raise living costs and breach privacy rights. She was arrested on Friday afternoon, triggering a storm of online outrage. She remained in police custody in Nairobi on Sunday. "All efforts to secure her release on police bail have so far been frustrated by the officers in charge who are yet to cede to requests by counsel to release her," said Faith Odhiambo, head of the main lawyers' association (LSK), said on X on Saturday. Rights group Vocal Africa said on X that Njeri's arrest was "a blatant attack on digital rights, freedom of expression and civic engagement". President William Ruto said last month that all people abducted following the June-July anti-government protests had been "returned to their families". He promised it would not happen again.
