After spending five days in custody, sleeping on a concrete floor and without being allowed to contact his lawyer, human rights activist Bob Njagi has spoken publicly about the events surrounding his arrest ahead of the June 25 Gen Z commemoration. He shared his account during an interview on Radio Generation on Monday.
Njagi said he was arrested on the morning of June 24 in Kitengela by officers he identified as detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).
According to Njagi, he was having breakfast at around 9am when the officers approached him, identified themselves and informed him that he was under arrest.
"I asked them, 'Am I under arrest?' And they said yes," he recalled.
He said he was first taken to Kitengela Police Station before the officers changed direction and drove him to the DCI offices in Kajiado, where he remained in custody for the rest of the day.
"I was detained for the whole day, incommunicado. I was not allowed to have any contact at all, even to my own lawyer," he alleged.
Njagi said he was later questioned before being transferred that evening to Mashuuru Police Station, about 70 kilometres from Kajiado town, where he spent the night in a police cell.
"That's where I spent the night in a cell on the floor. Again incommunicado," he said.
He added that he had no bedding or change of clothes while in custody.
"Nothing. The way I was in the morning. T-shirt and the trouser... the floor is obviously a concrete one," he said.
The following day, Njagi said officers took him back to Kajiado before presenting him in court, where investigators applied to detain him for a further 14 days as investigations continued.
"I told the judge I don't have a lawyer. I need time to consult," he said.
Njagi said the magistrate declined the request to detain him for 14 days but allowed police to hold him for seven days instead. He also said his application for cash bail was initially rejected.
He said he remained in custody until human rights defenders moved to the High Court and obtained orders that secured his release.
"Fortunately, I got support from the human rights defenders. They went to court and obtained a court order from the High Court, securing my release on a cash bail of Sh100,000," he said.
Njagi said he was released on June 30 after spending five days in custody.