Kenyan human rights campaigner Boniface Mwangi, a former photojournalist turned activist and outspoken critic of corruption and police brutality, was arrested in mid‑July 2025 and accused of facilitating terrorist activities related to protests held on 25 June 2025, which left at least 19 people dead during clashes with police.
Mwangi was detained at his home in Lukenya, Machakos County on Saturday, July 19, 2025, during a raid carried out by Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). Authorities also raided his Mageuzi Hub office in Nairobi, seizing electronic devices, notebooks, tear gas canisters, and a blank firearm round.
Initially, prosecutors invoked Kenya’s Prevention of Terrorism Act, claiming he aided in orchestrating violent unrest. However, within days, those terrorism charges were dropped. Instead, Mwangi was formally charged with less severe offenses: unlawful possession of ammunition and tear gas canisters without permits, under the Firearms Act. Specifically, he faces charges over one blank 7.62mm round and three tear‑gas canisters discovered at his office on July 19.
At his arraignment on Monday, July 21, 2025, at Kahawa Law Courts in Nairobi, Mwangi was released on a Sh1 million personal bond (approximately $7,700) and granted personal bail. The case is slated for its next mention in court in August or mid‑August, depending on procedural timelines.
Mwangi dismissed the charges as politically motivated, famously declaring “I am not a terrorist” on the social platform X (formerly Twitter), where he has a substantial following. Civil society groups—including the Kenya Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International—strongly condemned the move. They called the charges trumped-up and part of a broader pattern of weaponising anti-terrorism legislation to intimidate dissenters, undermining judicial independence and democratic freedoms in Kenya.
Rights organisations also criticized the legality of the raids, noting that no verified court warrant has been produced and the raids occurred in apparent violation of due process rules.
Mwangi’s arrest comes amid a broader wave of youth-led protests that began in June 2025 following the death of blogger Albert Omondi Ojwang in police custody and public outrage over corruption and the cost of living crisis. That protest wave claimed nearly 70 lives, injured hundreds, and resulted in mass arrests—highlighting escalating tensions between young protesters and the state under President William Ruto’s administration.
In summary, Boniface Mwangi is now facing relatively minor ammunition possession charges after an initial, more serious terrorism case was abruptly dropped. His arrest and prosecution have drawn widespread condemnation from human rights groups, who view it as an attempt to suppress lawful dissent amidst a broader crackdown on protest movements.
