The global spotlight on Kenya’s democracy has dimmed significantly, with a leading rights watchdog formally reclassifying the nation as a “repressed” state following a year marred by bloodshed and shrinking civil liberties.

This downgrade, detailed in the People Power Under Attack Report 2025 released on International Human Rights Day, signals a disturbing shift. It suggests that for the average Kenyan, the constitutional right to assemble, speak, or dissent is no longer guaranteed but is instead met with systemic hostility.

The Grim Statistics of 2025

The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU), which contributed to the global report alongside Civicus and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), painted a harrowing picture of the last 12 months. The data reveals a security apparatus that has increasingly turned its weapons on the very citizens it is sworn to protect.

According to IMLU’s verified records for January through December 2025, the toll on human life and dignity includes:

• 97 extrajudicial executions, where suspects were killed without trial.
• 72 confirmed cases of torture or cruel, inhuman treatment.
• 49 injuries sustained directly during protests.
• 18 deaths occurring within police custody.
• 16 arbitrary arrests and 5 enforced disappearances.

“Kenya is now a repressed state,” IMLU stated bluntly. “This is a clear warning that our democracy is weakening and civic freedoms are under attack.”

What ‘Repressed’ Means for You

This classification is not merely academic jargon; it has tangible implications for the mwananchi. A “repressed” status indicates that the state is actively restricting public freedoms. For a trader in Gikomba or a student in Nairobi, this environment increases the risk that demanding better governance or protesting the cost of living could result in violence or arrest rather than dialogue.

The report places Kenya in a category where those who criticize power are routinely punished. IMLU emphasized that the erosion of these constitutional protections is a red flag for the country's stability.

“This categorisation should worry every Kenyan,” the watchdog noted, warning that the normalization of police brutality threatens to undo decades of democratic progress.