The Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga has said individuals who were involved in acts of lawlessness during the anti-tax protests will face the full force of the law.
He said the mass protests witnessed across the country recently led to loss of lives, damage to property and left many nursing serious injuries.
Ingonga directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to expeditiously conclude investigations into all acts of criminal nature and forward the file to his office for the necessary action.
“Any individual found culpable will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.
“Further, any future acts of violence leading to loss of lives, and/or destruction of private and public property, moreso critical infrastructure including Parliament, Judiciary, National and County Government facilities shall be met with the fullest force of the law.”
The DPP said the Constitution of Kenya protects the right of every person to assemble, demonstrate, picket and present petitions to public authorities.
He, however, said the right is not absolute and may be limited to protect lives and property.
The DPP further pointed out that the right to protest does not extend to propaganda or war, incitement to violence, hate speech or advocacy of hatred that constitutes ethnic incitement of others or incitement to cause harm.
“Any person involved in such assembly, demonstration and/or picketing must be peaceful and unarmed,” Ingonga said.
The DPP said the acts witnessed particularly on June 25 resulted in the loss of lives, destruction and vandalism of private and public property, and other related acts, which cannot be left to continue unabated.
Leaders and Kenyans have decried the trail of destruction the demonstrations left in their wake.
There has been admission on the government side that the protests, driven mostly by the youth, were largely peaceful until they were infiltrated by criminal elements.
President William Ruto said on Sunday during a media roundtable that at least 19 lives were lost although the number has been disputed by other agencies.
On Monday, the DCI said he had launched investigations to apprehend and prosecute individuals who took advantage of the protests last week and went on a looting spree, destroying property and businesses.
DCI unveiled faces of some of the suspects caught on CCTV and called on Kenyans to report them to the nearest police station.
“When the Kenyan youths (Gen Z) organised nationwide peaceful protests to exercise their democratic right rejecting the proposed 2024-25 Finance Bill, other groups with criminal minds took advantage of the situation and devised schemes to cause harm and economically frustrate fellow Kenyans,” DCI said in a statement.
In footage shared online by the DCI, suspects are seen breaking into business stalls inside a building on Ronald Ngala street before helping themselves to shoes and clothes
Most of the suspects wore caps and masks seemingly to disguise their identities.
Police said the looters posed as demonstrators and earmarked several business premises to loot.
They broke in and looted boutiques, electronic shops and supermarkets.
They set some business premises ablaze.
“As a criminal investigative agency, it squarely falls within the mandate of the DCI to investigate and bring to book any persons involved in such outright criminality, which not only robbed numerous Kenyans of their means of livelihood but also worked towards compromising an otherwise crucial constitutional right,” the DCI said in their statement.
Source: theStars .co.ke
Original writer: PERPETUA ETYANG