Govt Drops Terrorism Charges Against Activist Boniface Mwangi

by Maurine Kirambia on Monday, 21 July 2025 - 12:10 pm

A file photo of activist Boniface Mwangi

Photo

Boniface Mwangi

The prosecution has dropped terrorism charges against activist Boniface Mwangi following his arrest on Saturday.

Instead, Mwangi, who was arraigned at the Kahawa Law Courts on Monday morning, has been charged with two counts of possession of ammunition without a valid firearm certificate.

In a charge sheet seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the activist was accused of being in possession of three teargas cannisters and one round of blank ammunition.

"On July 19, 2025, at Mageuzi Hub in Nairobi County within the Republic of Kenya, you were found in possession of noxious substances, to wit, three teargas cannisters without lawful authority," count one reads.

A portrait of activist Boniface Mwangi.

Photo

DCI

"On July 19, 2025, at Mageuzi Hub in Nairobi County within the Republic of Kenya, you were found in possession of one round of 7.62×21mm blank ammunition without lawful authority," the sheet reads.

Subsequently, magistrate Gedion Kiage ordered his release on a personal bond of Ksh1 million. The case will be mentioned on August 19.

On Saturday, July 19, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) raided his home in Lukenya, arresting him for questioning in connection with 'facilitating terrorism'.

While confirming the arrest the following day, DCI claimed that it had recovered several items, including a 7.62mm blank round, and two unused teargas cannisters - not the three mentioned in the charge sheet.

Other items listed in the DCI reports were nine assorted external hard drives, two laptops, company seals for two companies, a company stamp, six cheque books, and copies of stamp duty documents.

However, speaking outside the Pangani Police Station on Sunday, Mwangi's family and lawyers, led by Njanja Maina, dismissed the DCI's assertion that he had any terrorism materials in his possession.

“We have seen a statement by the DCI today that there are items that were picked from his office. We can confirm and state with no uncertainty that those are things which he did not have in his possession. So we do not know why they are coming up with terrorism charges,” Maina said.

They further accused the DCI of bypassing the ex parte order, which had been issued for the search of his offices, by searching his residence as well.

"Boniface Mwangi was picked from his residence at around 4pm and brought to his office, where officers had obtained an ex parte order. The search warrant was exclusive to his office, but we can also confirm that they searched his home. We don’t know why this was done, especially since there was no arrest warrant accompanying the order," Maina relayed.