A year before Kenyans head to the ballot, civil society organisations are warning that the return of political gangs could pose a serious security challenge, with recent cases of violence raising questions about who is funding and coordinating the groups.
The concern emerged during a multi-stakeholder meeting on political goonism convened by the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)-Kenya, where participants called for early measures to deal with political violence before the 2027 General Election.
ICJ Kenya Chairperson Christine Alai said there was a need to act on the warning signs already being witnessed instead of waiting for the problem to grow.
“We are underscoring that we have already observed the trends, and what we are seeking most importantly is accountability and to address the impunity that is surrounding the problem of political hooliganism. We want to move beyond the young men who are being financed and whose faces we see as perpetuating the problem of political hooliganism, and we're asking ourselves the question, who is behind political hooliganism?” said Alai.
Alai said Kenya's experience during the 2007 post-election violence remains an important lesson as the country prepares for another election.
She said the civil society groups, together with the National Police Service (NPS), Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and other stakeholders, want to develop ways of tracing the people behind the recruitment and use of political gangs.
The plan will focus on identifying those who organise, finance and mobilise the groups, rather than concentrating only on the young people who are seen carrying out acts of violence.
“Because we're underscoring that it is a structural problem. What we are seeing in the form of violence is the manifestation of a political economy of violence,” she stated.
Alai said economic hardship among those recruited into political gangs is also part of the problem, with perpetrators taking advantage of the difficult conditions facing some of the people involved.
Rahma Ramadhan, a Research Fellow and Programme Manager at the Centre for Human Rights and Policy Studies, said stakeholders were facing a major gap in dealing with political violence because there is not enough recent data on the issue.
She said research being carried out by the organisation is aimed at gaining a clearer picture of political violence by looking at the experiences of communities as well as different institutions involved in security.
“Part of the studies that we are conducting, we are seeking to understand this problem from a community perspective, as well as from a stakeholder perspective, including state actors, community policing structures, and state policing structures. On the architecture of the issues that we are seeing right now to do with security, particularly political violence,” she told the press at the convention.
The National Police Service said it was already taking steps to deal with the threat.
NPS spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga said the service would deal with goonism firmly, while rejecting claims that the police are part of political goonism.
Nyaga described political goonism as a wider problem within society that requires more than police action to address.
He said the NPS has started identifying suspected goons and mapping places connected to the vice.
The exercise is expected to help security agencies establish areas that could become hotspots and improve their preparedness as the country gets closer to the 2027 election period.
IPOA Commissioner Dr Annette Mbogoh said organised goonism remains a concern for the authority both in the period before elections and after voters have cast their ballots.
She said another issue that needs attention is the involvement of criminal groups in peaceful political protests.
According to Dr Mbogoh, the presence of such groups can change the nature of demonstrations and turn them into cases of urban disorder.
The concerns raised at the meeting have placed renewed focus on the need to understand the networks behind political goonism, particularly those responsible for recruiting, financing and mobilising groups ahead of the 2027 General Election.