Manyatta MP Gitonga Mukunji has filed a petition at the High Court challenging his arrest during the recent Saba Saba protests, terming it unlawful and politically motivated.
The case, lodged at the Milimani Law Courts, targets Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, DCI Director Mohamed Amin, and DPP Renson Ingonga, all of whom he contends abused their powers in arresting and charging him.
In the petition, Mukunji accuses the State of misusing the Prevention of Terrorism Act to intimidate and silence critics of the government.
He argues that his arrest was not only irregular but also part of a broader crackdown on dissent disguised as national security enforcement.
The legislator, who was arrested alongside journalist James Ikuwa Mbochi and boda boda rider Stanley Mbuthia Wanjiru, says the charges against them were trumped-up and meant to punish him for his public criticism of state actions during the demonstrations.
Through his legal team, Mukunji is seeking the court’s intervention to quash the case, arguing that the arrest violated his constitutional rights and amounted to an abuse of police and prosecutorial powers.
The petition detailed Mukunji's arrest on July 7, 2025, when over 40 police officers apprehended the MP on the Thika Superhighway on his way to Nairobi.
During the apprehension, the MP had offered a lift to Mbochi, who was covering the Saba Saba Day protests in Nairobi.
The petition stated that the boda-boda rider Mbuthia was arrested as he followed the police after arresting the MP out of concern.
“That as they were driving, they were arrested along the said Thika Superhighway at Toll area within Juja Sub-County by a contingent of approximately 40 Police Officers in several vehicles who then took them to Kibii Police Station within Juja Sub-County,” the petition reads in part.
The development comes amid the growing scrutiny of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) over the use of terror-related charges against hundreds of young people and critics of the government.
However, on Monday, the DPP denied the accusations it has been facing, reiterating that the charges were lawful under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Although ODPP acknowledged the role of free speech and a "vibrant civil society", it emphasised that both needed to understand the framework of the Act, instead of interpreting it as efforts to suppress legitimate political expression.
