Region-Wide Decline in Freedoms

NAIROBI, KENYA – Former presidential candidate Reuben Kigame on Wednesday, November 5, 2025, condemned what he described as a surge in human rights violations within Kenya and the broader East African Community (EAC). His remarks coincide with multiple reports from international human rights organisations that paint a grim picture of deteriorating civil liberties and escalating state-led repression across the region.

Speaking to a local television station, Kigame highlighted the case of two Kenyan activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, who were reportedly abducted and are being held incommunicado in Uganda. He criticised the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its silence on the matter, suggesting it signifies a broader decline in the state's commitment to protecting its citizens' rights. “Kenya is not a free society; we have reverted to the time when the media was not free and critics were being tortured,” Kigame stated, referencing recent abductions of youth activists in Kenya.

Kenya's Domestic Record Under Scrutiny

Kigame's assertions are substantiated by independent analysis from watchdog groups. Human Rights Watch's (HRW) World Report 2025 concluded that Kenya's human rights trajectory has “deteriorated over the past year.” The report details heavy-handed crackdowns on nationwide protests against the high cost of living and the 2024 Finance Bill, where authorities were accused of harassing, intimidating, and arresting protest leaders and civil society groups. The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) also expressed deep concern over the use of lethal force by Kenyan police during protests in June and July 2025, which resulted in multiple deaths and hundreds of injuries.

The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) reported that between June and October 2024, police were responsible for at least 63 killings and 87 abductions. Beyond protest suppression, HRW and other organisations have documented persistent issues including a high rate of femicide, threats against the judiciary by the executive, and a lack of accountability for police brutality and extrajudicial killings.

A Pattern of Repression in the EAC

The situation in Kenya reflects a wider, troubling trend across the East African Community, where civic space is shrinking and state security apparatuses are increasingly implicated in abuses.

• Uganda: The human rights environment remains restrictive, with the government clamping down on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Authorities have arrested individuals for online criticism of officials, and the controversial 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act has institutionalised discrimination and led to violence against LGBT people. The abduction of foreign nationals, as alleged by Kigame, aligns with documented patterns of state security high-handedness.
• Tanzania: Ahead of and following the disputed October 2025 general elections, authorities intensified repression of the political opposition, journalists, and civil society. Amnesty International and HRW reported unlawful killings, arbitrary arrests, and internet shutdowns used to quell post-election protests.
• DRC: The conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo has led to a severe human rights crisis. A UN report in June 2025 detailed widespread abuses by Rwandan-backed M23 rebels, Congolese troops, and allied militias, including summary executions and extensive sexual violence that may amount to war crimes.
• Burundi: With legislative elections held in 2025, the government has continued to restrict space for political opposition and independent media. According to UN experts, civil society organisations documented hundreds of extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, and acts of torture between January 2024 and May 2025, often linked to the ruling party's youth league, the Imbonerakure.
• South Sudan: The nation is at risk of sliding back into full-scale conflict, a UN commission warned in October 2025. The political crisis has fuelled armed violence, widespread human rights violations, extrajudicial executions, and massive displacement, compounded by rampant corruption.
• Rwanda: The government under President Paul Kagame continues to suppress political dissent through pervasive surveillance, intimidation, arbitrary detentions, and torture. The period leading up to the July 2024 general elections, which saw Kagame win a fourth term with 99.2% of the vote, was marked by a crackdown on opposition figures and media.

Collectively, these reports from organisations including the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International validate the concerns voiced by figures like Kigame. They depict an East African region where the fundamental rights to expression, assembly, and political participation are under sustained attack, with accountability for state-level abuses remaining elusive.