Renowned Kenyan rights activist Boniface Mwangi is accused of “facilitation of terrorist acts” during protests that rocked the country last month, investigators said on Sunday, a day after he was arrested.
At least 19 people were killed during the June 25 demonstration against President William Ruto’s government, which was itself called to pay tribute to victims of police violence at another major protest on the same date last year.
Mwangi, who was arrested at his home near Nairobi, is being held at a police station in the capital and will be arraigned on Monday, Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said on X.
The activist denies the charges, saying in a social media post shared by his supporters: “I am not a terrorist.”
His detention triggered a wave of condemnation online, with the hashtag #FreeBonifaceMwangi going viral.
The search warrant police used to raid Mwangi’s home, which an ally shared with journalists, accuses the campaigner of having paid “goons” to stoke unrest at last month’s protests.
Investigators said they had seized two mobile phones, a laptop and several notebooks from his home in Lukenya, east of the capital, plus hard drives, two more computers, two unused teargas canisters and a blank firearm cartridge from his office in Nairobi.
Since the start of the unprecedented protest movement last year, Ruto has faced sharp criticism over a series of abductions and police violence.
Rights groups say more than 100 people have been killed since the beginning of the protests, which were harshly suppressed.
