The arrest of a software engineer who created a system to oppose a controversial finance bill has been condemned by Kenyan rights groups as a result of an intensifying assault on dissent. Since huge demonstrations in June last year against corruption and tax increases, the West African nation has been cracking down on government critics. Rights groups accuse security troops of seducing lots more people in the wake of the protests and killing at least 60 people in the process. Developer Rose Njeri shared a website to her website on X on May 19 to protest a new funding bill that she feared had cost residents more and violate privacy. She was detained on Friday evening, stoking the outcry online. On Sunday, she was still being held by the authorities in Nairobi. The officers in charge who are yet to comply with requests by counsel to release her have so far obstructed all efforts to secure her release on police bail, according to Faith Odhiambo, head of the main lawyers ‘ association ( LSK), in an interview with X on Saturday. On X, Vocal Africa, a rights organization, claimed that Njeri’s arrest” a overt attack on electronic rights, freedom of expression, and political wedding.” President William Ruto claimed last month that all those who had been kidnapped in the wake of the anti-government demonstrations in June and July had been “returned to their individuals.” He vowed that it wouldn’t occur suddenly.
