My name is Boniface Mwangi, a human rights defender, a grassroots mobilizer, and an advocate for good governance and the rule of law.
Death threats are not new to me and my family, but the current regime has taken it to a new low. During the 10 years of Uhuru’s regime, l was threatened with death many times. Twice, I was accused of trying to overthrow the government. On February 14th, 2014, the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC) accused me of being part of a U.S.-funded plot to destabilize the government. On May 6th 2019, I was picked up from my house in Nairobi by DCI detectives and taken to Central Police Station. They said l was a “person of interest” in an alleged plot to stage a revolution against the government. During those ten years of Uhuru’s regime, l was arrested many times, taken to court numerous times on trumped-up charges, but never once found guilty of any charges.
In 2016, my family had to seek safety in exile. In 2017 l was shot at close range with a teargas canister and had to later undergo surgery. In 2021, hired goons planted pipe bombs in the family home we were building and detonated them in an attempt to demolish it. I’m still here, by God’s grace, alive and undeterred. However, threats on my life have increased since l took part in last year’s protests and my life’s normalcy has been shattered.
On October 9th 2025, something very disturbing happened as I was traveling to Kilifi County. I had packed my own carry-on bag, passed through two security checks at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Nairobi, and then just before boarding, my bag was taken away and I was issued with a luggage slip. I arrived safely at Malindi Airport and retrieved my bag. While on my way to the hotel, I opened my bag to get a power bank and discovered a used round of ammunition tucked in between my clothes. The bullet casing was on top of a pair of shorts that had been ironed and brought to me by my daughter the previous night, after which I placed them in my bag. The carry-on is used frequently by our family as a regular travel bag. The spent cartridge was slipped into my bag during the brief moment that it was not in my possession. There is only one way of interpreting this incident; a direct threat to my life.
I considered reporting the matter at Kilifi Police Station immediately, but multiple lawyers and human rights defenders advised against it. They believe the ammunition may have been planted to incriminate me, especially since I’m already facing trumped-up charges for possession of ammunition. Reporting it might have led to my arrest under the pretext of further “investigations.” Like the majority of Kenyans, l do not trust the police. For safety, I immediately reported it to a reputable human rights organization, took photos, and recorded a video, which l sent to some trusted people and my legal team, in case of any eventuality.
I have decided to take the bold decision to share this latest threat with the country, regardless of any potential consequences, for it is our silence that emboldens those intent on doing us harm. It is clear that my life is in danger, and has been for quite some time now. The attempts to intimidate me are becoming more brazen and far more direct, however. I appear to have been singled out for harassment since no other Kenyan, in recent times, has experienced so many arrests, targeted character assassination, and physical attacks as I have.
Since June 2024, I have been arrested five times. I also escaped an attempted abduction outside the City Mortuary on June 21st, 2024. On July 20th, 2024, there was an attempted raid on my office by goons on motorbikes, who recorded videos and posted them on social media, while threatening to invade my home as well. Police did not bother to open an investigation.
On September 24th, 2024, I was standing outside Harambee House when a team of police officers and armed men in plain clothes tried to grab me. I was saved by fellow human rights defenders. A month later, on October 27th, 2024, l was arrested by police at my home, detained at Kamkunji Police Station for a night, and afterward released without charges.
Over the past year, l have been explicitly targeted and demonized by the ruling regime. They frequently sponsor smear campaigns to manufacture anger and rage against me. Posters and videos are circulated blaming me for extrajudicial killings that have been perpetrated by the state. Social media accounts are created just to flood my comments section immediately after l post anything, and trolls attack me constantly, some even demanding that l should be killed. They don’t even use pseudonyms to make those threats but I don’t bother to report them, because l know they work for the regime and nothing will be done.
My communications are being monitored and disrupted. As a movement, we have experienced enforced internet disruptions during key mobilization events. We have had our events cancelled without any explanation, and been denied permission to hold events in public spaces. Digital and physical surveillance shadows us everywhere we go.
This is not a coincidence.
On April 2nd, 2025, l was violently arrested, and almost shot, at my office in Kilimani. I was taken to Kilimani Police Station and brutally beaten inside the police cells. The beating was so severe that l ended up in Nairobi Hospital for treatment. Instead of charging the officers who assaulted me, I’m the one in court defending myself against allegations of assaulting them.
On May 3rd, 2025, the police arrested two of my colleagues, Markdenver Karubiu and Brian Adagala, on false allegations of producing the BBC documentary, ‘Blood Parliament’, which documented the role of the state in the killing of innocent civilians during the 2024 anti-finance bill protests. More than four months later, they haven’t been formally charged. A day before the June 25th, 2025 first anniversary in remembrance of the Gen Z martyrs, two people l was working with to mobilise safety marshalls, former Harambee Stars captain Robert Otiti, and boxer and Olympian Suleiman Bilali, were arrested on allegations of using social media to incite demonstrators to invade State House. They had not posted anything.
On June 27th, three other human rights defenders (who were also part of our team), John Mulingwa Nzau, also known as Garang, Mark Amiani, known as Generali, and Francis Mutunge Mwangi, alias Chebukati, were arrested while travelling on a Mombasa-bound bus and arraigned on arson, theft and vandalism-related charges. They were unconditionally released by the court.
Many other activists have been arrested under false charges with the majority of cases being dismissed. This ‘catch and release’ strategy is a government ploy aimed at sabotaging our progress and demoralizing human rights defenders. There have been attempts to infiltrate my team with human assets (snitches) and co-opt my allies and advisors by trying to turn them against me. The government is funding people who claim to be part of the Movement to sow mistrust and confusion.
On July 19th, 2025, in the lead-up to my presidential bid announcement, Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Officers came to my home without a warrant, arrested me, then proceeded to illegally ransack it. They confiscated two mobile phones, a laptop, and three notebooks. They did not have a warrant to search my home. They then drove me to my office and produced a warrant to search it. The detectives took nine external hard drives, two laptops, company seals, six cheque books, and stamp duty documents. They posted on their social media account that l had been arrested for facilitating terrorism and money laundering activities, among other false accusations. They later quietly returned all my property. Unfortunately, they cloned my electronics and planted spyware on them. I’m concerned that the DCI has our family photos from the past five years. Our family’s private moments are in the custody of a rogue police force. Despite withdrawing the terrorism charges against me, the defamatory social media post associating me with terrorism was never withdrawn.
The government is using legal and illegal channels to try to frustrate and intimidate me. They have instigated multiple false criminal charges. There are plans to falsely accuse me of failing to pay taxes, and targeting my finances. I have been reliably informed that efforts will be made to de-register my businesses, among other forms of financial sabotage.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will also be pressured to challenge my eligibility to run for the presidency. They intend to exploit ethnic divisions, portraying me as an “entitled Kikuyu” in an attempt to turn public opinion against me. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) is wasting taxpayers money by coordinating and financing these vile attacks, both online and offline.
As I said before, threats are not new to me. However, the events of this past weekend have left me shaken, and l now believe my life is in serious danger, just like the lives of my friends, Tanzanian’s presidential hopeful Tundu Lissu and Uganda’s Kizza Besigye.
There were 159 recorded cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in 2024, according to the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC). Between June 25th, 2025, and July 11th, 2025, at least 65 protesters were killed and over 600 injured. Many businesses were looted and destroyed. Women were raped, some of them gang-raped. These heinous acts were carried out by goons who were sponsored by politicians and the government, working in tandem with the police. Not a single person has been held accountable. The Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) is monitored by police, around the clock, through Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV). Parliament, City Hall, and the Supreme Court all have CCTV, and we have demanded that the footage from last year’s atrocities be made public so that we can identify the people who actually caused mayhem, death, and destruction, and hold them accountable. The state has refused to release the footage and, instead, arrested more than 500 innocent Gen Z protestors, charging 75 of them with terrorism.
The regime has lied that there will be no more abductions, but innocent Kenyans are still being found dead inside police stations and morgues. The secret hit squads that abduct, torture, and murder citizens are still in operation. The secret torture chambers are still operational. The regime wants to pretend to compensate victims of extrajudicial killings, as it simultaneously continues to abduct, arrest, maim, and kill innocent citizens, with zero sense of accountability or justice.
The only tool left in the hands of the state is bribery, blackmail, threats, violence, abductions, and assassinations. The targeted harassment, character assasination, and accusations of terrorism are part of a broader plan by the regime to discredit me before they murder me.
They have billions and bullets, but we have truth, people-power, and God; and that combination is an unstoppable force. This generation will liberate our country, once and for all. Kufinish kumalo.
Time is on the side of the youth and Generation Zote. If anything happens to me, look no further than the State.
his regime is afraid that the tide of change is blowing and they will be swept into oblivion by it. They fear the Movement, which is much bigger than myself or any single person. Change is here. The minds of our young people have tasted the freedoms provided by the Constitution and they can not go back to the politics of deceit, hate, tribalism, and division. We are ready to secure our freedoms, our country, and our future. This regime can arrest me, plant evidence, and try to intimidate me all they want—but they cannot stop an idea whose time has come. Dedan Kimathi’s execution did not prolong colonialism. Political assassinations did not prevent the end of single-party rule. I am and have always been a peace-loving Kenyan, who has fought for and defended the truth. l will continue organising with young people for the inevitable Ballot Revolution and to help create a better Kenya for all.
One of the things that inspires me about the many Kenyans that have been standing up against the evil regime is their courage to believe that a better Kenya is possible. That’s what we’re all fighting for. True courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to press forward in spite of it. I speak COURAGE fluently, and l will never stop fighting for a better Kenya.
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