The Katiba Institute has moved to court to challenge the government’s decision to barricade key roads leading to Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) and cordon off sensitive government installations like Parliament and State House on Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
The lawsuit, filed at the High Court, claims that the government’s actions were a direct violation of a court order issued in February, which barred the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General from restricting peaceful protests.
Legal Showdown Over Protest Rights
The Institute’s legal representative, Joshua Malidzo, said the barricades were a deliberate attempt to suppress constitutionally guaranteed rights to protest and picket.
“Through actions that evidence a police state, the respondents have barricaded roads leading to the CBD in Nairobi to ensure Kenyans do not enjoy their right to demonstrate and picket as guaranteed by the Constitution,” Malidzo told the court.
He added that despite organizers of the June 25 anti-government demonstrations notifying police in accordance with the law, there was no warning that roads would be blocked.
“The Kenya Kwanza administration violated the Constitution out of sheer fear of its own citizens,” he said. “In a human rights state, the government cannot fear its citizens to the extent of unlawfully limiting or suspending their rights.”
State Accused of Militarization
The court papers accuse the state of attempting to establish a militarized society, where public streets are blocked by barbed wire and heavy police presence without prior notice or explanation.
This comes as the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) also filed a related application seeking to compel the police to produce missing blogger Ndiangui Kinyagia, alleged to have shared the protest timetable online.
According to LSK, Kinyagia’s arrest or disappearance is unconstitutional and likely tied to his online activism during the protests.
“There’s no basis in law for abductions, detentions or enforced disappearances. The state must respect due process,” LSK said in a statement shared on their official site.
