NAIROBI — Kenyan police have arrested more than 270 individuals they claim were posing as protesters during antigovernment rallies and engaging in criminal activities.
“Security forces across the country singled out suspects found engaging in criminal activities in the guise of protesting and took them into custody,” the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) announced in a statement posted on X late Tuesday.
Of those detained, 204 suspects were apprehended in Nairobi, the capital, while another 68 were arrested in various other regions of the country.
“The DCI has further deployed scrupulous investigators across the affected regions to pursue suspects captured on CCTV cameras and mobile phone recordings violently robbing, stealing, and destroying properties and businesses of innocent citizens,” the statement continued.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki condemned the protests, labeling them an “orgy of violence” and warning that the government would take decisive action against those participating in “anarchic chaos and cruel plunder.”
“This reign of terror against the people of Kenya and the impunity of dangerous criminal gangs must end at whatever cost,” Kindiki declared.
On Tuesday, riot police deployed tear gas and clashed with stone-throwing protesters in central Nairobi and other parts of Kenya, following the death of at least two dozen protesters in previous clashes last week.
The demonstrations were initially sparked by a controversial finance bill that introduced new taxes, exacerbating the hardships of citizens already grappling with a cost-of-living crisis.
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