Kenya government disputes rights groups' data on anti-gov't protest deaths

By Brian Kimani, NAIROBI Kenya

Kenya Interior minister, Kithure Kindiki says 42 Kenyans died during the anti-government protests from June to August, disputing the findings from several human rights groups that place the figure at 61. 

Appearing before the National Assembly Security and Administration Committee on Thursday, Kindiki explained that the Committee received a report detailing the information of 30 people who were killed during the protests and the circumstances around which they died. 

He, however, pleaded with the Committee to be granted 24 hours to provide the information on the remaining 12 cases, reassuring the MPs that the government has nothing to hide.

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"What I'm pleading is to be given 24 hours to provide the other 12 in supplementary information as I've said the government has nothing to hide. We cannot hide the fact that a Kenyan has died. What we need to do is to find the circumstances in which they died and if there's a culpability even by a security officer, we ensure that justice is served," he noted. 

Kindiki also defended how the police dealt with the protests, insisting that there was no proof of brutality.

He added that the government does not have a policy on abductions, and insisted that there is no proof of the police being responsible for the 132 Kenyans that are still missing. 

"Myself, including the President himself, have made it clear that this administration does not condone abductions or extra-judicial killings or enforced disappearances. It is unfair to visit the policy on extra-judicial killings unless we're provided with evidence of policy pronouncements that support this unlawful behaviour," Kindiki pointed out. 

"If police never used lethal force during the invasion of Parliament, we would never have a Kenya like we have today."

"The fact that a Kenyan was shot in the vicinity of police during the protests is not evidence enough that the police are the ones who shot the Kenyans," he added. 

Kindiki's figures contradict the findings made by Amnesty International and other Human Rights groups that described police actions during the protests as chaotic and uncoordinated. 

"The level of violence and disregard for human rights during the protest is unacceptable, The authorities had ample time to prepare for a peaceful protest, but instead, the response was characterized by excessive use of force," reads part of a Wednesday report by Amnesty.