Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has announced that his ministry will adhere to the High Court’s decision regarding the deployment of Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officers to assist the police in maintaining peace amid ongoing protests.
In a statement following the court’s ruling, Duale confirmed that a new gazette notice would be issued to formalize the deployment. “The Government through the Ministry of Defence will comply with the court decision and issue a new gazette notice in due course,” he said.
Duale emphasized the government’s commitment to respecting the Constitution, stating that the KDF’s role is to ensure peace, public safety, and the protection of critical infrastructure for all three branches of government. “The Government and KDF in particular will at all times respect the constitution and the law in discharging its mandate,” he affirmed.
The High Court upheld the decision to deploy KDF, with Justice Lawrence Mugambi stating that the continuation of military support was necessary to preserve peace, public safety, and protect critical infrastructure. “Given the eruption and loss of control of police during the demonstrations, necessitating deployment of KDF which endangered life and property, the invocation of article 241(b) was properly invoked in the circumstances,” Justice Mugambi said.
While the court justified the intervention, it also highlighted the need for greater public transparency regarding the extent of military involvement. Justice Mugambi agreed with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) that deploying KDF in such a comprehensive manner poses a risk of militarizing the country and potentially suppressing civilian protests against government policies. “This can potentially muzzle the civilian population from protesting to what it believes are unfair taxation policies imposed by the government and also put a wedge between the military and civilian population,” he noted.
The LSK had sought to halt the deployment through a court petition, arguing that no official emergency, unrest, or instability had been declared to justify the KDF’s involvement in supporting the national police service.
On Wednesday morning, Members of Parliament approved the deployment of KDF officers within the country to restore order following Tuesday’s protests against the Finance Bill. The soldiers were intended to support the Kenya Police Service in restoring normalcy after the protests turned violent.