A pregnant woman and three other people have won Sh2.2 million in compensation after the High Court found that police violated their rights during investigations into the alleged theft of industrial chemicals at the Port of Mombasa, with officers faulted for unjustified arrests, detention and failure to respect an existing bail order.
The court directed the Inspector-General of Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to pay the four claimants for violations that included confiscating their mobile phones and failing to inform their families about their arrests and whereabouts.
Hannah Nyamweru Kamau received Sh1 million, the largest individual award, after the court considered the circumstances surrounding her arrest while she was 39 weeks pregnant.
During her detention, officers denied her prescribed medication before transporting her approximately 500 kilometres to Mombasa overnight. Her family was not informed of the transfer, leaving her children unaware of what had happened to her.
The court also awarded Sh500,000 each to Peter Kamunge Mwaniki and Eunice Muthoni Mwangi over their treatment by police.
Kamunge spent more than 60 hours in custody before being taken to court, while Mwangi was arrested without sufficient justification and was never charged.
Daniel Makumi Mwaniki was awarded Sh200,000 after his arrest in September 2025, which the judge found had breached an anticipatory bail order that was already in place.
The compensation must be paid jointly and severally by the two agencies, making both responsible for meeting the court's award.
Despite finding fault with the arrests, the judge declined to terminate the criminal proceedings against Kamunge and Makumi. The two will therefore have to challenge the evidence against them through the trial process.
The dispute arose after officers raided shops linked to Hanny General Hardware Limited in Kariobangi North on March 18 and 19, 2025. The four claimants said the arrests were followed by the transfer of three of them to Mombasa without a clear explanation.
Police said the operation was part of investigations into the alleged disappearance of three containers of Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulphate from the Port of Mombasa between February 13 and March 1, 2025.
Investigators claimed the chemicals had been taken to a storage facility in Kariobangi North. They further alleged that Makumi sent Sh60,000 to an individual suspected of coordinating the operation.
However, the judge raised concerns about the evidence and the manner in which the investigation was conducted. These included conflicting records on the suspects' custody, the absence of a recovered inventory of the chemicals and the timing of arrests carried out after the investigation file had been forwarded for a prosecutorial decision.
The court's findings highlighted the need for police officers to follow the law when arresting and holding suspects, regardless of the allegations under investigation.
The judge also clarified that the decision not to charge a person does not automatically render an arrest unlawful. The legality of an arrest must be assessed on the circumstances surrounding it.
In this case, however, three of the arrests were found to have been arbitrary and unsupported by just cause, leading to the compensation awards.
While the ruling provides financial relief to the four claimants for the violations established in court, it does not bring the criminal proceedings against Kamunge and Makumi to an end. Those cases will continue, with the two expected to contest the evidence presented against them.