In July 2025, US Senator James Risch introduced a bold amendment in Congress proposing the reconsideration of Kenya’s designation as a Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA). This privileged status, awarded to a select group of countries, allows access to US military support, strategic collaboration and defence related advantages. But Risch’s amendment is not simply about security cooperation. It is a powerful statement that human rights must be at the heart of global partnerships.
For decades, Kenya has enjoyed international respect as a democratic leader in Africa. From regular elections every five years, to enactment of a new strong constitution, to smooth power transitions, the country has been a shining example for Africa. Further, it has hosted refugee populations, mediated regional peace processes and spoken on global stages as a champion of multilateralism. At the beginning of 2025, Kenya became a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, a recognition of its supposed commitment to human rights, dignity and justice.
However, today Kenya stands at risk of losing that moral standing. The State’s violent crackdown on peaceful protests, misuse of anti-terrorism laws against youth and troubling foreign policy alignments are dragging its reputation into question. Kenya’s descent began with the State’s heavy-handed response to youth-led Gen Z protests in 2024 and 2025. Sparked by discontent over taxation, corruption and growing inequality, these protests were a manifestation of civic courage by young Kenyans peacefully demanding accountability. Instead of engaging these voices, the State deployed anti-riot police, snipers and plainclothes agents. Protectors were abducted in broad daylight, held without charge, tortured and in some cases, killed.
The most shocking abuse however has come in the form of terrorism-related charges being brought against young demonstrators and human rights defenders. The government used the very laws meant to protect national security as tools to silence democratic expression. This is a dangerous precedent. By redefining peaceful protest as terrorism, Kenya is eroding the very principles it once stood for, principles it committed to when it joined the UN Human Rights Council.
What message does it send to the world when a country entrusted with upholding global human rights is itself criminalising civic participation? The implications go beyond morality. They include the economy as it communicates that Kenya is struggling with terror-related issues and this sends shockwaves through investor communities, development partners and global financial institutions. Countries perceived as insecure, politically unstable, unpredictable or repressive are automatically downgraded in risk assessments.
Already, some businesses are reconsidering long-term operations. International development funding is under scrutiny. The world is asking whether Kenya is still safe, not just for tourists or investors, but also for its own people.
Compounding these issues is the State’s involvement in extrajudicial killings, particularly during the Gen Z protests. VOCAL Africa confirmed that almost 50 young Kenyans were killed in the bloodiest protest day in the country’s history – July 7, 2025 (Saba Saba). Almost all of them were unarmed but still were shot at close range by police or unidentified units in civilian vehicles. Bodies of abducted protesters have turned up with signs of torture. Families have been left grieving with no answers, no justice and no accountability.
As if the killings were not enough, the country’s security chiefs, led by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, are on record confirming to the killer police units that they (police) will be shielded from investigations and that the State will not cooperate with investigative agencies such as the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). This is a damning embarrassment to a country that purports to want to lead on human rights matters globally.
Such brutality not only violates Kenya’s Constitution but places the country in direct breach of its international obligations, including those under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. For a nation serving on the UN Human Rights Council, these actions are indefensible. How can Kenya advocate for global human rights standards while failing to uphold them at home?
International concern over Kenya’s direction has also grown due to its perceived alignment with the Sudanese militia group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which is accused of war crimes, sexual violence, ethnic cleansing and genocide. Despite global efforts to isolate the RSF, Kenya has reportedly welcomed its leaders, facilitated political engagements and offered itself as a platform for RSF-backed negotiations. This is a diplomatic failure of the highest order. It undermines regional stability, emboldens war criminals and tarnishes Kenya’s reputation as a neutral mediator. Instead of leading peace efforts in Sudan, Kenya now appears to be legitimising the architects of Sudan’s suffering.
Kenya must choose whether it will remain a rights-based democracy, accountable to its people and partners, or drift into the orbit of authoritarianism. Being a country that once enjoyed global admiration for its leadership in democracy, peacekeeping and human rights, it has rapidly deteriorated into a perfect example of how a country can easily and so fast fall into repression and subjugation of its population.
Today, Kenya’s reputation is in crisis. From killing its youth and criminalising protests, to hosting war criminals and undermining its own Constitution, the country is moving away from the ideals that earned it its global standing. Kenya’s international stature was built not just on its geography or economy, but on its moral standing. That standing is now fading. If the government continues to criminalise dissent, use trumped up terror related charges on critics, embrace authoritarian partners and condone State violence, it will not only lose its allies’ support but also lose the respect of the world.
What Kenyans must now decide is whether to allow the government to continue on this destructive path, which will leave the country locked out of international human rights elite bodies, or stand firm in defence of the nation’s integrity. The choice is ours. Let us choose to reclaim our place on the global human rights stage before it is too late.
Mr Khalid is the CEO of Vocal Africa, The Standard
