Maraga demands accountability over police brutality, missing protester
By Emmanuel Rono, June 28, 2026Former Chief Justice David Maraga has accused Kenya’s security agencies of using excessive force against peaceful demonstrators, calling for accountability over the disappearance of a protester following the June 25 demonstrations.
In a statement issued on Sunday, June 28, 2026, Maraga claimed that a worrying trend had emerged in the country’s policing, where officers reportedly concealed their identities during operations.
“Kenya is watching a dangerous pattern. Across the country, security forces have conducted operations in which officers conceal their identities, deploy excessive force, and act in ways that make accountability impossible,” he said.
Call for police accountability
According to Maraga, police officers should be accountable to the public, arguing that policing is a public duty, not a license for violence.He added that officers who hide their identities during state operations do not protect the public but instead undermine the constitutional order they are sworn to uphold.
“When officers hide their identities while carrying out state operations, they do not protect the public. They undermine the constitutional order they are sworn to uphold,” Maraga stated.
Maraga further questioned why peaceful protesters were allegedly met with force despite following the law.
He insisted that the constitutional right to peaceful assembly is not a privilege extended selectively by those in power and warned against unequal treatment of citizens.
“Why are citizens being violently dispersed when they have followed the legally required notification procedures for peaceful assembly?” he posed.
“Kenyans cannot be treated differently depending on who they are or what they are protesting against,” he said.
Independence of security sector
Maraga further questioned whether there were rogue elements within the security apparatus operating outside the law.
“Are different instructions being issued to different units? Are there killer squads within the government being deployed outside the law to intimidate citizens?” he asked, before demanding “a public explanation from President William Ruto.”
Maraga also called for all officers deployed in public operations to be clearly identified at all times, for command responsibility during public order operations to be publicly communicated, for the constitutional right to peaceful assembly to be fully respected, and for authorities to account for all persons reported missing following June 25 protests.