A screengrab of some of the officers speaking with Khelef Khalifa / BRIAN OTIENOAbout six human rights activists and staff of Muslims for Human Rights (Muhuri) have been detained between Gamba and Minjila, in Tana River county, by unknown men in uniform.
The six, led by Muhuri director Khelef Khalifa, were heading back to Mombasa after a three-day visit of Lamu county where they had been on a fact-finding mission over complaints of lack of compensation and public participation for the East African Oil Refinery project set to be launched on Wednesday by President Wiiliam Ruto.
They had passed the Gamba police station and had joined the main Lamu-Malindi highway, when they were stopped by the uniformed officers manning the highway at around 1pm.
The highway is usually manned by officers from the Special Operations Group (SOG), an elite multi-agency paramilitary unit within the National Police Service, primarily operating under the Administration Police Service’s Border Patrol Unit.
The officers demanded the national identity card from Khalifa, who was in the front seat of the Toyota Prado they were driving in.
However, Khalifa informed them that he had not carried it at the time.
He also demanded that they reveal their faces and service numbers, insisting it was a proclamation of the court, but the officers refused.
“Any police officer, military or security officer who is on duty must display their service numbers and reveal their faces,” Khalifa told the Star on phone.
He said the officers have also refused to inform them whether they are under arrest or not.
“If we are under arrest, let them tell us. And if we are not, we need to go. We have to get to Mombasa early enough,” the veteran human rights defender said.
Muhuri rapid response officer Francis Auma, told the Star on phone that the officers started harassing them when Khalifa failed to produce his national ID card.
“But we all know that failing to carry a national ID card is not an offense,” Auma said.
He said they are worried of their safety because majority of the about 20 officers had all hidden their faces behind balaclavas.
“We have been detained and they have put spikes both in front and behind our vehicle. We cannot move forward or back,” Auma said.
He said they insisted that they be taken to the nearest police station if at all they have been arrested, but their pleas were not heard.
According to Auma, the officers were lamenting that the rights activists have been giving them a hard time whenever they travel along that particular highway.
Others who were with Khalifa and Auma include Abdulrahman Mwangoka, Frederick Okado, Lathan Yusuf, and Mohamed Abdalla.
As the officers and the activists got into a back-and-forth a voice belonging to one of the officers could be heard, in a secretly recorded video, saying the activists will stay with them for a while.
“Munasumbua sana (you disturb a lot),” said one officer.
“Wacha tu wakae na sisi apa (Let them stay with us here),” said another, as yet another officer tried to solve the impasse diplomatically.
In the video, a furious Khalifa is heard threatening to close the road.
“I don’t want to be stopped for nothing. You must tell us why you are stopping us,” Khalifa said.
By the time of going to press, the activists were still detained.
