Haki Africa addresses viral video of official being ejected from public participation exercise
Haki Africa is demanding the unconditional release of its official who was ejected from the Tononoka Hall in Mombasa and detained after he protested the holding of the public participation exercise on the Finance Bill 2025 on a public holiday.
In a statement on Friday, June 6, 2025, Haki Africa observed that the exercise of conducting the public participation when many Muslim faithful were observing a holiday was in contravention of the law.
“Today, our Rapid Response Officer, Shipeta Mathias Hezron, was arrested in Mombasa while peacefully raising concern over the government’s attempt to conduct public participation on the proposed Finance Bill 2025 on a public holiday — a time when many Kenyans, especially Muslims in Mombasa, are away observing Eid ul-Adha,” the organization stated.
Public holiday
“Holding such an important national exercise during a holiday undermines the spirit of meaningful public participation, a constitutional right under Article 10 of the Kenyan Constitution.”
The organisation is now calling for the release of its member, who was seen in a viral video being ejected from the hall by at least 10 police officers.
“Haki Africa strongly condemns this arrest and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Shipeta. We also demand that public participation processes be conducted in a transparent, inclusive, and respectful manner, reflecting the diversity and schedules of all Kenyans. We stand firm: No justice, no peace. No participation without the people,” the rights group remarked.
Activists briefly interrupted the exercise on Friday, June 6, 2025, when they stormed the Tononoka Social Hall and demanded that the exercise be postponed to a later date.
However, police officers were called in to restrain the activists. The officers ejected the activists from the hall and the premises despite their protests.
Committee downplays low turnout
In a statement on Friday afternoon, the National Assembly Committee for Finance and National Planning indicated that the last day of the public participation exercise of the Finance Bill of 2025 was successful.
“Today marks the last day of public hearings on the Finance Bill 2025 and the Virtual Asset Service Providers Bill, 2025 in the counties. The Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning, which is conducting the exercise, has pitched camp in Kwale, Mombasa and Kilifi counties to collate the views of the public on the two crucial proposed legislations,” the committee stated.
While the activists decried the low numbers of those attending the public participation exercise at the coast, the committee indicated that the numbers were impressive.
“In Kwale, residents have turned up in large numbers to make their submissions to a section of the Committee led by the Chairperson, Kuria Kimani, who was accompanied by Lungalunga MP Mangale Chiforomodo.”
