Prominent constitutional lawyer Willis Otieno has condemned the Kenyan police for what he termed as state-sponsored brutality against peaceful protesters during the Wednesday, June 25, 2025, demonstrations.

Otieno, speaking in a strongly worded statement on his X official account on Thursday, June 26, 2025, accused law enforcement of targeting citizens, particularly women, with excessive violence meant to intimidate rather than maintain public order.

“In Kenya, a woman steps out to demand justice and the state responds by tearing her body apart,” Otieno said.

“Not with words. Not with rubber bullets. But with rape. A weapon of war disguised as law enforcement.”

The lawyer’s remarks come amid growing public outrage over alleged police excesses during the protests, in which multiple reports of injuries, abductions, and sexual violence have surfaced. Human rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the conduct of the police.

Otieno described the state’s response as indicative of a deeper systemic failure. “A system so rotten, it fears a woman with a placard more than a man with a gun,” he said, highlighting the irony of a government that appears more threatened by peaceful dissent than by actual threats to national security.

Call for accountability

He questioned the legitimacy of such a system, calling for accountability at the highest levels. “We must stop normalizing brutality. This is not law enforcement—it is terror,” he said.

He said the eyewitness accounts and social media footage have shown uniformed police using live ammunition, teargas, and batons to disperse crowds across Nairobi and other major towns. In some cases, protesters were dragged into unmarked vehicles by plainclothes officers.

Otieno urged Kenyans not to be silenced, warning that silence in the face of injustice only empowers impunity. “What we saw yesterday is not just a policing problem. It is a national crisis,” he added.

The lawyer further emphasized that historical change does not come from passivity but from bold, collective resistance.

 “Freedom is never gifted by the oppressor; it is wrenched from clenched fists by those who dare to demand it,” Otieno stated, drawing a parallel between past struggles and the current generation’s demands.

He urged continued resistance and civic engagement, insisting that societal transformation depends on deliberate, persistent action.

“The arc of history does not bend on its own; it is bent by those who refuse to kneel,” he declared, calling on citizens to stand firm in the face of repression.

In Kenya, a woman steps out to demand justice and the state responds by tearing her body apart.

Not with words. Not with rubber bullets.
But with rape.
A weapon of war disguised as law enforcement.
A system so rotten, it fears a woman with a placard more than a man with a gun.

— Willis Evans Otieno (@otienowill) June 26, 2025