Kindiki Calls for Stricter Sentences on Protestors
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki disclosed some of the charges that prosecutors will prefer against the 304 protestors apprehended during the Azimio La Umoja antigovernment demonstrations.
Professor Kindiki stated in a statement sent to newsrooms that the State would charge the dissidents with robbery with violence, which carries a life sentence or the death penalty, among other charges.
The State is abusing Section 296(2) of the Penal Code, which states that a person convicted of larceny with violence shall be sentenced to life in prison or the death penalty.
The Kenyan Penal Code, however, defines robbery with violence as a robbery committed while the offender is armed with a dangerous or offensive weapon or instrument, or is in the company of one or more other persons, or if, at or immediately after the time of the robbery, he wounds, beats, strikes, or uses any other form of personal violence against any person.
The law emphasizes that the death penalty is a severe punishment that is only imposed in the most severe cases of armed robbery.
The Cabinet Secretary for the Interior also disclosed that those who violated the Public Order Act and were captured looting would serve as an example to other criminals who would seek to destabilize the country by taking advantage of the ongoing demonstrations.
Professor Kindiki’s statement included the following: “Accordingly, 304 people were arraigned in various courts in different regions yesterday in connection with various crimes including looting, malicious damage of property, arson, robbery with violence, unlawful assembly, preparation to commit a felony, and destruction of buildings and infrastructure.”
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According to Kindiki, police officers were able to apprehend 113 demonstrators in Nairobi, 61 in the Rift Valley, 53 in eastern Kenya, 47 in the Nyanza region, 20 along the coast, and 10 in western Kenya.
Kindiki also stated that there were no arrests made in the northeastern and central regions of the country, where he claimed that commerce continued as usual.
“Except a few instances of looting and breach of peace by small bands of marauding lawbreakers in a few locations, normal daily activities occurred routinely in the majority of the country.
“The public is hereby informed that the wave of hooliganism, disruption of order, and lawlessness that began on Wednesday has been fully contained, and the country has returned to normalcy,” Kindiki stated.
Professor Kindiki guaranteed that security personnel will continue to maintain law and order with the uttermost professionalism, tenacity, and objectivity.
He advised public and private sector employees, businesspeople, travelers, and everyone else to continue with their daily nation-building activities today and in the coming days, and to leave their safety and security to the National Police Service and other security organs of the nation.
“Security agencies remain fully engaged with the situation in the Country and will build on the experience of the last two days to ensure that law enforcement achieves even better results tomorrow,” Kindiki assured.
Kindiki Calls for Stricter Sentences on Protestors
