The National Police Service (NPS) has refuted widespread claims that it raised alarm over alleged involvement of foreign nationals in recent nationwide protests, including those witnessed on Saba Saba Day.
In a statement issued Monday, NPS dismissed a press release circulating on social media—purportedly from its spokesperson—as fake and misleading.
“This press statement circulating on social media, purporting to be issued by the Spokesperson of the National Police Service, is fake,” the NPS said in a brief but firm rebuttal.
The fabricated statement had claimed that police had arrested foreign nationals from at least eight countries—including Uganda, South Sudan, and Somalia—during violent incidents linked to the ongoing wave of anti-government protests.
It further alleged that the NPS, in collaboration with the Department of Immigration, had launched a crackdown on undocumented immigrants accused of participating in property destruction, looting, and attacks on police infrastructure.
The fake notice also urged “patriotic Kenyans” to report suspected undocumented foreigners to police for arrest and deportation—claims the NPS has now denounced as entirely false.
The controversy comes in the wake of increasingly violent scenes witnessed during recent protests.
On June 25, eight police stations across the country were vandalized or torched in what authorities described as a coordinated attack.
Affected facilities included Juja, Villa, Molo, Ongata Rongai, Matuu, Mai Mahiu, and Ol Kalou police stations.
At the Dagoretti Police Post in Kiambu County, at least five firearms were reportedly stolen.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has described the violent unrest as “terrorism disguised as dissent.”
Addressing the media, he condemned the destruction, saying it went far beyond civil disobedience.
“There was no peaceful demonstration. It was riots, chaos and anarchy,” Murkomen said.
“This was not just violence. It was an orchestrated campaign of terror, an assault on our people, our Constitution, our institutions, our values, and the very soul of this Republic.”
Murkomen further claimed the protests were “a calculated disguise, a coordinated descent into chaos masked as civic expression.”
In the aftermath of the violence, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has confirmed the arrest of at least 485 individuals, with 448 already charged in court, while 37 remain under active investigation.
The charges range from murder, terrorism, arson, robbery with violence, rape and gang rape, to possession of illegal firearms and incitement.
DCI Director Mohamed Amin stated that although the protests began peacefully, they were eventually “hijacked by a well-coordinated network of criminal actors.”
“The country must distinguish between legitimate civil action and criminal conspiracy,” Amin emphasized.
The NPS has urged the public to remain vigilant against misinformation, especially during times of heightened political tension.
Authorities reminded Kenyans to rely only on verified communication from official government channels and to report suspicious content that could incite division or panic.
With the nation still grappling with political unrest, the circulation of fake news and inflammatory statements—like the one dismissed today—risks further inflaming an already volatile situation.
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