Murang’a Governor Irungu Kang’ata has condemned the violence targeting the Linda Mwananchi movement in Homa Bay on August 16, 2026, accusing authorities of allowing alleged goons to operate with impunity.
Kang’ata said the incidents witnessed during the movement’s activities undermined Kenyans’ constitutional rights to peaceful assembly and security.
He urged authorities to arrest and prosecute those responsible, disband political militias and release individuals detained while participating in peaceful political activities, warning against a return to Kenya’s violent multiparty-era politics.
Taking to his X account on Monday, the county boss said Kenyans had fought for decades for the principle that political power belongs to the people and that citizens should not be attacked for expressing their views.
He accused security agencies of failing to protect citizens during the incidents and alleged that civilians were allowed to carry out attacks while authorities watched.
“What we witnessed was not policing. It was sponsored brutality,” he said, alleging that goons were operating with impunity and that officials sworn to protect citizens had failed to intervene.
Kang’ata argued that allowing civilians to carry out political violence represented a serious departure from constitutional principles.
“When the State outsources violence to civilians and gives them immunity, it has abandoned the Constitution and declared war on its own people,” he said.
The governor linked the Homa Bay incidents to Kenya’s history of political repression and violence, citing events that shaped the country’s struggle for multiparty democracy.
“This is the same playbook we rejected in the 1990s. The same playbook that gave us Saba Saba, that gave us detention without trial, that gave us 2007.”
The governor noted that Kenya’s democratic gains should not be undermined by allowing citizens to be attacked for demanding accountability.
He cited Articles 37, 29 and 244 of the Constitution, which he said protect the right to peaceful assembly, security of the person and impartial, human-rights-based policing.
“Article 37: Right to assemble. Article 29: Right to security of person. Article 244: Police must be impartial and respect human rights,” he said, adding that all three principles had been violated in Homa Bay.
Kang’ata called for the arrest and prosecution of both those involved in the alleged attacks and public officials who enabled them.
He also demanded the disbandment of what he described as shadow units or political militias allegedly being used against citizens.
The governor further called for the immediate release of Linda Mwananchi members arrested for what he described as peaceful assembly.
He warned the government that the manner in which power is exercised today could set standards that may later be used against those currently in office.
“A good government must exercise power as if its worst enemy is holding it tomorrow,” Kang’ata maintained.
He urged authorities to respect constitutional rights regardless of political differences, warning that normalising political violence could eventually affect those currently benefiting from state power.
“Power is temporary. The Constitution is permanent,” he said.
Kang’ata told residents of Homa Bay and Kenyans generally that organising, protesting and demanding accountability were not crimes but expressions of patriotism.