Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Faith Odhiambo has condemned the violence meted out on police officers by a section of protesters during the Wednesday, June 25, 2025, protests.
In a statement on Thursday, June 26, 2025, Odhiambo observed that while members of the public were urging restraint from the police, they should equally practice the same.
“We strongly condemn the provocative and vicious attacks on police officers by certain members of the public during the demonstrations. We specifically highlight the case of a female officer who was brutally stoned within Nairobi’s Central Business District,” Odhiambo stated.
“We must appreciate that, as we demand that our lives and safety be respected, we have a corresponding responsibility to respect the lives and safety of others. We cannot reasonably expect restraint from the police when we attack them in the course of their duty.”
Excessive use of force
Odhiambo equally called on a section of police officers against the use of excessive force on unarmed civilians, terming the acts unbecoming of the high calling of their role in society.
“We condemn the propensity of law enforcement officers to respond to democratic expression with violence and immeasurable force. We remind our officers that such conduct is unbecoming of their high calling as espoused by Article 244 of the Constitution and must cease with finality,” she remarked.
She equally called out the Communications Authority (CA) over their order to stop all mainstream TV and radio stations from broadcasting the protest live.
Media gag
“We call out the high-handedness and impunity demonstrated by the Communication Authority of Kenya in switching off broadcasting signals of local free-to-air TV stations pursuant to an arbitrary and legally impotent directive to impose a media blackout on the demonstrations,” Odhiambo stated.
Several media stations in the country had their transmissions switched off after CA raided their masts and demanded that they shut them down.
This followed a directive by the CA boss, David Mugonyi, that the media houses would face regulatory action if they failed to stop their live broadcast.
The directive was on Wednesday, June 25, quashed by a High Court after civil rights bodies and opposition politicians rushed to court.
