By Linda Muhanji
Two prominent human rights activists were arrested on Thursday in Mombasa after attempting to halt a Finance Bill 2025 public participation forum, citing its scheduling on a national religious holiday.
Mathius Shipeta of Haki Africa and Francis Auma of the Muhuri Organisation were detained by police at Tononoka Hall, where the forum was underway. The activists had taken to the podium, demanding that the session be postponed in observance of Eid-ul-Adha, a significant Islamic holiday marked by a large portion of the Kenyan population.
"Today is a public holiday, why are you conducting the process today? You are disrespecting the Ministry of Interior," one of the activists declared during the interruption.
Despite presenting a court order they had obtained to suspend the forum, the police refused to acknowledge it. Officers instead forcibly removed the activists from the hall and placed them in custody.
The activists criticized the turnout, noting that the session was poorly attended—with fewer than 30 people present—arguing that it did not meet the threshold for effective public participation.
"There are no people in the hall. The numbers are barely up to 30. What kind of public participation is this?" they questioned before being arrested.
Haki Africa condemned the arrests and criticized the government for choosing to hold such an important civic exercise on a religious holiday, thereby excluding a significant portion of the population from engaging.
“Holding such an important national exercise during a holiday undermines the spirit of meaningful public participation, a constitutional right under Article 10 of the Kenyan Constitution,” read a statement from the organization.
The group is demanding the immediate release of Shipeta and Auma and has called for a more inclusive, transparent, and respectful public participation process in the debate over the controversial Finance Bill 2025.
This incident comes amid growing concerns over the treatment of activists and civil society members in Kenya. Just last week, Rose Njeri, a software developer and activist, was arrested and held for four days after creating an online platform that allowed Kenyans to express objections to the Finance Bill. She was later released on a Ksh 100,000 bond and is awaiting trial on charges of unauthorised interference with a computer system.
Earlier, well-known activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan human rights defender Agather Atuhire were detained and allegedly tortured in Tanzania while attending a court hearing for opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
Civil society groups are now sounding the alarm over what they see as a coordinated effort to suppress civic engagement and dissent.
As pressure mounts over the Finance Bill—which proposes sweeping tax changes—the government is expected to face increasing scrutiny over how it conducts the public participation process and handles dissenting voices.
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