Kenya rights groups protest detention of finance bill foe

The East African country led by President William Ruto has been cracking down on critics of the government since massive protests against tax rises and corruption last June.

Security forces are accused by rights groups of killing at least 60 people during the protests and abducting dozens more in the aftermath.

Activists say the arrest Friday of the software developer, Rose Njeri, reflected an intensifying suppression of dissent.

Njeri was take into custody after sharing a link to her site on X, saying it was built to oppose a new finance bill that she said would raise living costs and breach privacy rights.

Her detention triggered a storm of online outrage.

On Sunday dozens of supporters, including the activist Boniface Mwangi, gathered outside the Nairobi police station where Njeri is being held.

"We visited Rose Njeri and she told us how 15 DCI officers arrested her," Mwangi said.

"They ransacked and turned her house upside down, confiscating her phone, laptop and hard drives in the process."

Mwangi said Njeri "is in high spirits" but is worried about her two children, who do not know where she is.

"Imagine having to tell her children that she's in jail for developing a website that eases public participation for Kenyans who want to submit their proposals on the 2025 budget," he said.

"Ruto's madness and lawlessness must come to an end," he said.

Rights group Vocal Africa said on X that Njeri's arrest was "a blatant attack on digital rights, freedom of expression and civic engagement".

"All efforts to secure her release on police bail have so far been frustrated by the officers in charge who are yet to cede to requests by counsel to release her," Faith Odhiambo, head of the main lawyers' association LSK, said on X on Saturday.

Ruto said last month that all people abducted following the June-July anti-government protests had been "returned to their families".