- Citizen TV uncovers gangs paid as low as KSh50 to break up peaceful protests
- Recruits came from Kibera, Kawangware, Dagoretti, and Korogocho
- Attackers say they were briefed and dropped near protest areas
- Some now claim they were never fully paid and feel betrayed
- Civil groups call for urgent investigation and accountability
A shocking exposé by Citizen TV has laid bare a troubling underworld arrangement where young men were paid as little as KSh50 to unleash violence on peaceful demonstrators in Nairobi’s CBD during protests held on Tuesday, June 18.
At least three men featured in the report confessed to being deliberately mobilised, armed, and instructed to create chaos, spread fear, and silence demonstrators calling for police accountability.
From Slums to Streets with Clubs
The recruits, many from informal settlements like Kibera, Korogocho, Kawangware, and Dagoretti, said they were ferried into town on motorbikes, handed wooden weapons, and told exactly where to go and who to target.
“We were gathered near places like Uhuru Park, Dennis Pritt, and Green Park. They told us what to do, and then let us loose,” one man admitted.
Another added that payment ranged between KSh50 and KSh2,000, depending on the intensity of the attack. “If you just showed up, you got fifty. If you roughed up people more,” he revealed.
Despite following orders, many of the goons now say they were double-crossed. The people who promised them pay have gone silent—some blocking calls and others vanishing.
“We did what they asked, but they’ve refused to pay us,” a visibly upset recruit told journalists. “Now we are hiding and broke.”
The revelation has ignited public fury, especially among Gen Z demonstrators, who organised the protests to seek justice for police brutality victims like Albert Ojwang.
Civil society groups are now pushing for a full investigation, saying the use of gangs to stifle lawful protests is an attack on freedom of assembly and democracy.
“We want to know who funded them, who armed them, and who gave them orders,” a statement from one rights group read.
As the search for answers continues, Kenyans are demanding accountability, warning that turning protests into battlegrounds through paid violence will not silence the voice of the people.
