Embakasi North Member of Parliament James Gakuya has faulted the trend by East African Heads of State of deploying military personnel to deal with protesting civilians, saying that it is illegal.

While speaking during an interview on a local TV station on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, he expressed his frustration over how the Heads of State have resorted to deploying the military for issues that could easily be handled by police officers.

He stated that in East African countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, and Kenya, there have been cases where the military has been deployed without following proper legal procedures. He explained that, for instance, in Kenya, the law requires parliamentary approval before the military can be deployed for any operation outside their barracks, and failure to follow this process makes such deployment illegal and unconstitutional.

“One, let me say that in fact, the head of state that governs the three East African communities, especially, let me quote, in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. What happened is that sometimes there’s an obstacle against the normal protocol, where if it’s military, in Kenya, you have to seek authority from the parliament. And before that is done, then it tells you any release of military from the barracks to action is illegal.” Gakuya stated.

Gakuya questioned whether the frequent use of the military signified a lack of confidence in other security agencies such as the General Service Unit (GSU), Administration Police (AP), and the Kenya Police.

He emphasised that the military should only be involved in cases of serious border crises or extreme national threats, not for handling internal civilian protests.

Situations for military deployment

He further noted that civilian demonstrations do not warrant the use of excessive force, adding that deploying the military against unarmed citizens violates both national and international law. He urged East African leaders to respect constitutional procedures and uphold democratic principles.

This comes after the Tanzanian elections, where citizens took to the streets to protest the outcome, expressing dissatisfaction with how the polls were conducted. The demonstrations reportedly led to confrontations with the military, which had been instructed to disperse the protesters.