Former presidential candidate Reuben Kigame has taken a bold legal step, moving to the High Court to request permission to privately prosecute Kenya’s top security officials over alleged state-sponsored killings, abductions, and torture during the Gen Z protests of 2024 and 2025.
The petition, filed in Nairobi’s criminal division, accuses senior government figures of grave human rights violations and lays the groundwork for possible intervention by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Represented by renowned human rights lawyer Gitobu Imanyara, Kigame alleges that more than 100 peaceful demonstrators and innocent bystanders were killed by state security agents during the protests. He further claims that many others were abducted, tortured, or later found dead in circumstances suggesting extrajudicial execution.
Central to Kigame’s case is the argument that Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga has failed to take appropriate legal action against those responsible, despite the availability of evidence and public pressure. This alleged inaction, Kigame says, has left victims without justice and allowed impunity to flourish.
“The DPP has abdicated his constitutional responsibility,” Kigame asserts in his affidavit. “This dereliction of duty has necessitated my petition to pursue private prosecution against the key individuals responsible.”
Among those Kigame seeks to prosecute are Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin, National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director General Noordin Haji, and the Attorney General Dorcas Oduor.
“These are the very people entrusted with the safety and security of the Kenyan people,” Kigame said after filing the petition. “Instead, they now stand accused of facilitating or overseeing crimes against humanity including murder, enforced disappearances, and torture.”
Kigame emphasizes that his legal action is not just about individual justice but about accountability on a national and international scale. He maintains that the atrocities committed fall under the International Crimes Act, which aligns with the Rome Statute, giving the ICC jurisdiction once local remedies are exhausted.
He has so far documented 91 deaths between June 2024 and July 2025 including that of Rex Kanyike Maasai, a protester fatally shot in Nairobi’s central business district.
Outside the Milimani Law Courts, Kigame addressed journalists alongside his lawyer: “This is for the parents who lost their children, for the activists silenced by fear, and for religious and civic leaders who refuse to accept that justice should be selective. No title, no office should shield anyone from answering for such acts.”
Imanyara echoed those sentiments, saying the case marks the beginning of a process that may ultimately lead to The Hague. “This application is the first step toward international justice if the Kenyan system continues to turn a blind eye,” he said.
Kigame’s legal challenge now puts pressure on the High Court to determine whether citizens can pursue justice independently when state institutions fail to act raising critical questions about accountability, rule of law, and the future of human rights enforcement in Kenya.
