Software developer Rose Njeri, who was behind a website facilitating objections to the 2025 Finance Bill, has gained global recognition after being featured in the latest TIME100 Next list, joining a host of influential personalities worldwide.
Njeri became the sixth Kenyan to feature in the list, after the likes of nominated Senator Crystal Asige, activist Elizabeth Wathuti, and lawyer Mercy Mutemi.
She revealed the news through a social media post, where she expressed her excitement for the achievement and appreciation for the recognition.
“I’m incredibly honoured and excited to share that I’ve been named in the 2025 #TIME100NEXT list!” she said.
“This recognition is not just mine but belongs to everyone who has walked this journey with me, challenged me, and inspired me to keep going,” Njeri added.
Launched in 2019, TIME100 Next is an annual list released by TIME aimed at recognising 100 emerging leaders globally in various fields such as activism, science and technology, arts, sports, film, music, and others.
Njeri grabbed headlines for the creation of the website, which gave Kenyans an opportunity to submit their views on the contentious 2025 Finance Bill.
The website led to Njeri’s arrest, sparking uproar and fury among Kenyans, with many terming it a move to suppress human rights and censorship. The arrest gained more traction when it emerged that she had been detained without charges and denied bail.
Njeri was apprehended on Friday, May 30, at around 2pm along Enterprise Road, Nairobi, where she was undertaking a tech training. According to sources privy to the situation, she was forcibly taken away from the scene and bundled into one of the DCI's Subarus.
Reports added that the officers led her to her house, where they executed a search and confiscated gadgets without providing a search warrant.
After the news of her dubious arrest emerged, Kenyans took to social media demanding her immediate release, with activists led by Boniface Mwangi even holding demonstrations outside Pangani Police Station, where she had been detained.
After spending four days in custody, Njeri was finally presented before the courts, where she was charged with unauthorised interference with computer systems, contrary to Section 16 of the Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act No. 5 of 2018.
She was initially released on a Ksh100,000 personal bond, and later freed after the court found that the two criminal charges filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) were illegal and did not disclose any offence.
This year’s list includes 16-year-old American Elliston Berry, who was recognised at the State of the Union this year for her work advocating for new protections against digital harassment; 23-year-old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, New Zealand’s Gen Z Māori leader; and 22-year-old golf sensation Jeeno Thitikul.
