Court to Sentence Police Boss Douglas Kanja Over Roadblocks

The Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has been found in contempt for failing to issue notice before roadblocks. 

The High Court at Milimani ruled that Kanja disobeyed a conservatory order issued on July 9, 2025, by Justice Lawrence Mugambi. 

The judge asked the police IG to attend court on September 28 for mitigation and sentencing.

The order Kanja disobeyed was issued to restrain him or any officer subordinate to him from mounting barricades or police roadblocks that block public access to Nairobi's central business district or other public roads "without issuing a timely advisory/ notice prior to the emergency barricading of roads to allow the citizens/ members of public plan their activities accordingly."

Katiba Institute had sought orders that the police “be cited for contempt or be found to be in contempt of court for disobeying” the orders made on July 9 and October 2, 2025. 

It also asked the IG “be punished appropriately for disobeying court orders in issue”. 

In its submissions, the institute argued that disobeying court orders strikes at the very foundation of the rule of law and that the dignity and authority of the courts must therefore be respected and protected without compromise.

Katiba Institute told the High Court that on June 25, despite a valid, subsisting and unambiguous conservatory order, the Inspector General and his officers closed all major roads leading into Nairobi.

They included Roysambu, Kangemi, Ngong Road, City Mortuary Roundabout, Integrity Centre, Uhuru Highway/Haile Selassie Roundabout and Moi Avenue.

Others were Parliament Road, Harambee Avenue, Bunyala Road roundabout, Karen Village, Masai Lodge Junction, Allsops roundabout, Kitengela and Ruiru. 

It said members of the public were unable to go beyond the barricades and this amounted to a direct and deliberate violation of the court order, which required a timely advisory or notice before emergency barricading so that citizens could plan their activities.

The applicant relied on Hussein Khalid’s affidavit. He described leaving Athi River for the central business district, finding a barricade at Kitengela Roundabout, being told that no vehicles heading to town would pass, abandoning his vehicle and then encountering further police barricades at Mlolongo, Syokimau, SGR Corner, Southern Bypass and Bunyala Roundabout. 

He said he was surprised because he knew of the subsisting court order, especially after the CS for Interior, flanked by the Inspector General, had assured Kenyans the day before that June 25, would be an ordinary day, with protesters being escorted along the routes.

Katiba Institute said no timely advisory was issued, contrary to the order. 

It argued the deployments prevented people from entering the central business district and other parts of Nairobi: commuters were turned back, long-distance travellers were stranded, health workers struggled to reach hospitals and businesses were disrupted. 

It said the Inspector General’s explanations contradicted the CS’s statement that statutory powers had to be exercised consistently with the constitution and in obedience to lawful court orders, and that his failure to respond personally or to show compliance justified citing him for contempt. 

The IG denied wilful disobedience.

"The respondents contend that the contempt application is fundamentally misconceived, as the replying affidavit sworn by the Nairobi regional police commander satisfies the evidentiary threshold required in quasi-criminal proceedings." 

They argued that "the Inspector General cannot be cited absent evidence of personal authorisation of the alleged acts." 

They also said no notice was issued for the demonstration and that "any assembly on that day was unlawful by operation of Section 5(10), and the police were acting within their mandate to prevent disorder." 

The checkpoints were "entirely unplanned, non-structural and spontaneous," mounted in response to real-time threats, and not a top-down decision and that genuine demonstrators were allowed to proceed.

The court rejected that defence. It found the Inspector General had misinterpreted the order, substituting a requirement for notice before "pre-planned, structural road closures" for the actual duty to issue timely advisories before emergency barricading. 

It noted Kanja had flanked the CS on June 24, when the public was assured the next day would be normal. 

Justice Patricia Nyaundi held the failure to issue any advisory, despite foreknowledge of restricted movement, constituted wilful disobedience. 

"I therefore find the Inspector General in contempt of the Order of the Court issued on July 9, 2025 for failing to issue an advisory before the emergency barricading of roads,” the judge ruled. 

“I hereby direct that Douglas Kanja Kirocho attend court on September 28, 2026 for mitigation and sentencing.”