The High Court has declared the protest ban during the 2024 demonstrations illegal and unconstitutional.
According to Justice Bahati Mwamuye, the ban is a violation of the Constitution, specifically infringing on the rights of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, human dignity, protection from arbitrary arrest and due process as enshrined under Articles 27, 28, 29, 33, 37, 49 and 244 of the Kenyan Constitution.
Justice Mwamuye therefore ruled that the police had acted ultra vires beyond their legal powers and emphasised that peaceful protest is a fundamental right in a democratic society.
The case had been filed by eleven protesters represented by Pareno Solonka of Solonka and Solonka Advocates LLP, against the Attorney General, the Inspector General of Police and Bungei.
This was after the Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei, had issued a protest ban during the demonstrations last year.
The petitioners argued that during the protests, the police used excessive force on participants, including beating them with batons, lobbing teargas and spraying them with water cannons.
They further told the court that the respondents illegally used live bullets on unarmed and peaceful persons participating in the peaceful demonstrations.
The protesters, therefore, urged the court to order the police to compensate them for the violations of their rights.
In response to this, the court awarded a Ksh. 2.2 million in general for damages granting each petitioner Ksh. 100,000 each as compensation for the violation of constitutional rights.
