Former Runyenjes MP Njeru Kathangu has recounted the torture he suffered in police custody in a cell at Nyayo House.

Kathangu told a local TV station on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, that a police officer seized his head and repeatedly struck it against a wall before officers returned him to Nyayo House while he was bleeding.

“A police officer grabbed my head and slammed it against a wall. I was then taken back to Nyayo House, bleeding, and locked in a waterlogged cell until the following day,” Kathangu said.

He added that officers whipped him during his detention, leaving him with several wounds.

“I was whipped and developed multiple sores,” he said.

Torture chambers

Kathangu also expressed the view that torture chambers had not disappeared but had instead been moved to different locations across the country.

“The government has introduced other torture chambers across the country, including in forests, Karen, Karura and in a few other safe houses for police to torture people,” he said.

His remarks reflect his assessment of current policing practices. He did not identify the specific facilities or officers he referred to during the interview.

Kathangu’s account revived memories of Nyayo House, which became associated with the detention and torture of government critics during Kenya’s one-party era.

Message to police

The former legislator also urged police officers to remember that they come from the same communities as the citizens they are deployed to control.

“The police must remember that they belong to the poor. They must realise that every time they fight Kenyans, they are fighting their own brothers and sisters for the sake of one person,” Kathangu said.

“In the long run, it does not pay.”

He asked officers to uphold the law and avoid using force against citizens exercising their constitutional rights.

Kathangu’s remarks come amid renewed national debate over police conduct, deaths during demonstrations, abductions and the treatment of people taken into custody.