Press Statements

[1] Two days after political goons were unleashed on Kenyans in Homa Bay, I wrote to President William Ruto and demanded the release of the Report of the Taskforce on Police Reforms to the public. A report that had been placed in his hands on 16 November 2023.

[2] The central finding in the report is a constitutional command: the National Police Service must be independent. It is a demand to dismantle the colonial police system and end the state capture of the security system.

[3] Article 239(3) of the Constitution is blunt. The National security organs, and every officer serving in any of them, shall not act in a partisan manner; the National security organs shall not  further the interest of any political party or cause; and the National security organs shall not prejudice a legitimate political interest. Article 244 demands respect for human rights, human dignity, competence, integrity, professionalism and discipline. Article 245 creates an Inspector-General who “shall exercise independent command.” Article 245(3) and Article 246(3)(a) place recruitment in the National Police Service Commission, not in State House. It is not an accident that national security organs are established independently under Chapter 14 the of Constitution, separate from the National Executive. Article 232 requires all appointments and promotions in the public service to meritorious, transparent and on the basis of fair competition. Police officers are public officers.

[4] Parliament once honoured that design. The National Police Service Act, 2011, Section 12, forced the National Police Service Commission to advertise a vacancy in the office of Inspector General, hold public interviews, shortlist at least three names, publish them, and send them to the President who would nominate only from that list. Sections 13 and 30 applied the same obligation to the Deputy Inspectors-General and the Director of Criminal Investigations. Section 14 bound the entire process to Articles 10, 27 and 232, including gender balance at the top. However, the Security Laws (Miscellaneous Amendment) Act, 2014 tore those safeguards out. The current Section 12 lets the President to pick a name and send it to Parliament for vetting. The current Sections 13 and 30 put the Deputies and the DCI in the presidential stranglehold. That is not reform, it is capture.

[5] The Taskforce equally called it so. It called the 2014 amendments unconstitutional:

(i) It demanded their repeal and the fresh vetting and appointment of officers from the rank of Senior Superintendent of Police. The recommendation was ignored.

(ii) The law on age was bent. Section 80(1) of the Public Service Commission Act, 2017 retires public officers at 60. Section 80(2) allows a contract after that age only for rare skills the Service cannot otherwise find. In February 2024 the Commission extended then-DIG Douglas Kanja’s tenure and that of DCI Mohamed Amin after they had crossed that line. Later that year the President named Kanja, at 61, Inspector-General. What rare skills do they hold that other senior officers do not? Neither were they chosen by open competition and the result is that both occupy those offices illegally.

[6] Look at the harvest: organised political violence and partisan policing in Homa Bay, Keumbu and Ol Kalou; blood in churches in Kisumu, Nairobi and Witima, all under the Presidency’s watch, and for obvious political benefit. A partisan police force was a root cause of the slaughter of 2007/2008. Kenyans should not forget that the 2010 Constitution’s independent institutions clauses were written in that blood. We must that under President Ruto, more deaths, currently at 3958 in four years (an average 990 per year) are as a result of Police brutality, a number far beyond 4035 in 10 years for President Kibaki (who  averaged 404 a year), not to mention that these Kibaki’s numbers were inclusive of PEV and President Uhuru 4150 in 10 years  (an average of 415 a year).

[7] The answer to this malaise is simple: comply with the Constitution. Repeal the 2014 mutilation of Sections 12, 13 and 30 and end the abuse of Section 80(2) of the Public Service Commission Act. Restore competitive recruitment of the Inspector-General, the Deputy Inspectors-General and the Director of Criminal Investigations. Make fresh appointments under Articles 232, 239, 244, 245 and 246. Kenyans, please remember the old adage: he who pays the piper calls the tune. Fellow Kenyans please hear me. Unless the independence of the National Police Service is restored, we will not have a country.

[8] I gave a notice to make the Report public. I thought President Ruto would use the Katiba Day Celebrations to release it. Better still, last Friday he had an opportune moment during the pass-out parade of Police recruits at National Police College at Kiganjo. He instead unveiled new Police Uniforms not reforms. Whereas Police uniform was part of the over two hundred Taskforce recommendations, even this single one he is attempting to implement is already mired in corruption and opaqueness.

[9] Dear Kenyans, I chose to release this report to the Public on this International Day of the victims of Enforced disappearances. It is to those Victims who have been abducted and enforced to disappear that I dedicate this report. A link to a full copy of the report is also available on my X Handle(https://t.co/6ATPBmSJyf )

[10] Please read the report, interrogate it, and let us work together to implement its recommendations. Let us work together to restore the independence of the National Security organs, especially the National Police Service, in order to guarantee peace and security of our nation.

Thank you.

Hon. David K. Maraga, EGH

Chief Justice Emeritus

31^st August 2026

PRESS STATEMENT

          Nairobi, Kenya • August 24, 2026

THE GREEN PARADOX AND STATE CAPTURE:

THE SYSTEMATIC DESTRUCTION OF KENYA’S ECOSYSTEMS UNDER THE RUTO REGIME

1. The Wholesale Slaughter of Kenya’s Green Heritage

The United Green Movement (UGM) Party strongly condemns the ongoing, systemic decimation of Kenya’s public forests, national parks, and urban green spaces over the last four years under the William Ruto administration. The regime has weaponized empty rhetoric and cosmetic public relations campaigns to mask an unprecedented ecological assault, creating a deep paradox between state declarations and the grim reality on the ground. While the state orchestrates highly publicized tree-planting events, the country’s ancient, carbon-sink mature trees are systematically felled to satisfy commercial greed and political patronage. This is not development; it is an organized ecocide driven by state capture and absolute impunity.

2. The Ecocide in Nairobi and Public Forest Destruction

The visual and structural destruction of our environment has scaled up aggressively, penetrating deep into our capital city and vital national water towers over the last 48 months:-

• Nairobi’s Chainsaw Massacre: Decades-old, irreplaceable indigenous and exotic canopy trees along Lower State House Road, Waiyaki Way, Parklands, and areas surrounding Karura Forest have been completely flattened under the guise of infrastructure extension.
• Institutional Accountability Failure: State organs like KURA and KeNHA bypass local environmental frameworks and cut down trees without county regulatory approvals, shifting blame while fast-tracking concrete deserts.
• The Mau Forest and Logging Invalidation: The administration’s unilateral decision to lift the logging ban opened the floodgates for illegal loggers and well-connected land grabbers to infiltrate the Mau Forest Complex, erasing vital biodiversity corridors.
• Protected Areas Encroachment: Gazette notices and public forest borders are being systematically altered to pave the way for private commercial developments, directly threatening national parks, such as the Nairobi National Park.

3. The Failure and Deep-Seated Corruption of the 15-Billion Tree Campaign

The regime’s heavily financed campaign to plant 15 billion trees by 2032 has completely failed to achieve real ecological restoration, serving instead as a massive financial distraction and a front for corruption:-

• A Money Laundering Apparatus: Whistleblower accounts and public investigations reveal that the national tree-planting initiative functions largely as a cover for multi-billion shilling financial

impropriety.

• Bypassing Treasury Frameworks: High-ranking former government insiders have exposed systemic attempts to route over USD 1 billion in international climate financing directly through the Ministry of Environment, deliberately bypassing the National Treasury’s stringent oversight mechanisms.
• Carbon Offset Exploitation: The state’s strategy prioritizes selling cheap carbon credit clearances to large-scale global greenhouse gas pollutants and carbon cowboys at the expense of local communities while allowing indigenous local forests to be commercialized and degraded.
• Institutionalized Graft: The dismissal of dozens of forest rangers and managers for aiding forest destruction highlights the corruption embedded within the state’s environmental apparatus. It provides clear evidence that Kenya’s environmental law enforcement agencies have been compromised from within.

4. State Capture, Impunity, and the Menace of the Current Regime

Environmental lawlessness in Kenya is not accidental; it is a direct symptom of state capture. The executive branch has repeatedly demonstrated contempt for judicial boundaries, deliberately defying rulings from the Environment and Land Courts that seek to freeze illegal logging and public land allocations. Independent conservation bodies and state regulatory watchdog agencies have been systematically weakened or placed under the control of executive cartels. Public lands, vital water catchments, and civic green spaces are treated as political currencies to reward loyalists and secure regime survival, effectively locking out citizen participation and scientific oversight.

5. The Post-2027 Green Paradigm Shift

The 2027 general election represents a critical turning point to dismantle state capture and usher in an eco-socialist governance model that prioritizes natural heritage. A UGM-led Green Government will radically change Kenya’s environmental landscape:-

6. A Call to Citizen Defiance and Voting for Hon. David Maraga CJ Emeritus

In the face of official lawlessness, compliance is complicity. The United Green Movement Party (UGM) calls upon all Kenyan citizens to exercise organized, peaceful civic defiance against any ongoing destruction of trees in their neighborhoods. Demand valid environmental impact assessment permits from operators on public lands, map and expose land grabbers, and physically shield our remaining urban forests from chainsaws. To permanently repair our broken environmental systems, we need an executive leader of tested, unshakeable integrity. The UGM Party has proudly presented Chief Justice Emeritus Hon. David Maraga as the ideal presidential candidate for the 2027 elections. Hon. Maraga’s unmatched record of defending constitutionalism, resisting executive intimidation, and preserving institutional rule of law makes him the only leader capable of dismantling environmental cartels. A vote for Hon. David Maraga and our green candidates for MCA and MP positions is a vote to reclaim Kenya’s water towers, save our cities from ecological collapse, and restore our green heritage.

Katto Wambua,

Co-Secretary General

United Green Movement (UGM) Party

RESET. RESTORE. REBUILD.

Info@ugmparty.co.ke | +254759742162 | www.ugmparty.co.ke  | www.davidmaraga.info 

STATEMENT BY HON. DAVID KENANI MARAGA, EGH

Chief Justice Emeritus · UGM Party 2027 Presidential Flag Bearer

18th August,  2026

1. The violence witnessed in Homa-Bay this past weekend is not an ordinary, acceptable feature of political competition. It is a grave warning of what Kenya faces when intolerance, organised political violence, partisan policing and impunity are allowed to take root — and of the country we will become if they are not confronted now. In my view, all this is happening because of the state capture of the National Police Service by President Ruto.
2. I condole with the families of the 4 persons who died (including a police officer) and wish quick recovery to the over 50 persons who were reportedly injured.
3. Those responsible must all be held to account. Fellow Kenyans, we should not allow this to continue. 
4. You will recall that I chaired the National Taskforce on Police Reforms which recommended the restoration of the independence of the National Police Service. Allow me therefore to read to you a letter I have today written to President Ruto. The Maraga Police Reforms must now move from Ruto’s SHELF to IMPLEMENTATION.
5. As your President, I vow to deliver a transformed police service that truly serves Wananchi as Ukatiba demands of the government! This is what Ukombozi in 2027 is about.

RESET. RESTORE. REBUILD.

PRESS RELEASE

JULY 14, 2026

2027 CAMPAIGN FINANCE FRAMEWORK MUST PRIORITIZE EQUITY AND ENFORCEMENT OVER PROCEDURAL DELAY

The United Green Movement Party has reviewed the IEBC’s proposed campaign financing framework for the 2027 General Election and notes the urgency to end the 13-year cycle of legislative indecision.

While the proposed ceilings—including a presidential cap of KSh 4.44 billion—are a progressive step, they are hamstrung by fourteen structural gaps that threaten to leave the 2027 election as unregulated as its three predecessors. We reiterate that the constitutional mandate under Article 88(4)(i) to regulate election spending is a duty, not a discretionary policy choice, and the current delay in the parliamentary approval is an affront to the principles of free and fair elections enshrined in Article 81.

The most critical deficit is the “parliamentary approval bottleneck,” where the very individuals subject to spending limits retain the power to dilute or annul the regulations. Given that the statutory deadline for gazettement is August 10, 2026, the current timeline leaves less than four weeks for public participation and internal approval, creating a high risk that procedural challenges will be weaponized to sustain an environment of unrestricted “money politics”. The UGM Party warns that any delay beyond this twelve-month window should be viewed as a deliberate attempt to sabotage the integrity of the 2027 electoral cycle.

Furthermore, we identify the “pre-campaign expenditure escape” as a primary driver of electoral inequality. By restricting controls only to the formal campaign period beginning May 29, 2027, the current framework ignores the massive, ongoing deployment of resources through “empowerment drives” and philanthropy that currently define the pre-campaign landscape. This structural loophole rewards well-resourced incumbents and wealthy aspirants while effectively pricing out women, youth, and persons with disabilities, thereby eroding the constitutional guarantee of political rights under Article 38.

The UGM Party is particularly alarmed by the lack of a funded, independent enforcement architecture. The current design splits responsibilities between the IEBC that presides over the elections but lacks prosecutorial powers, and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions that has historically struggled to secure convictions for electoral offences. As seen in the July 2026 Ol Kalou by-election, the normalization of bribes and other forms of inducements requires more than just paper regulations; it necessitates a dedicated, ring-fenced enforcement unit with the capability to cross-reference campaign spending against real-time financial and procurement data.

In conclusion, we call upon the IEBC to finalize the gazettement of the campaign finance limits immediately and urge Parliament to prioritize the passage of the Election Campaign Financing (Amendment) Bill, 2024, to remove residual bottlenecks. The UGM Party remains committed to a level playing field and will continue to advocate for an environment where ideas, not private capital, determine the outcome of our electoral contests.

Annexed hereto is our detailed submission on the Campaign Financing Bill, 2024.

Katto Wambua

UGM Party Co-Secretary General

Albert’s death is not an isolated incident. It is the most recent, and most horrifying example of a growing pattern of intimidation, harassment, and silencing of young digital voices who dare to question authority and expose uncomfortable truths. The recent targeting of bloggers, whistleblowers, and digital creators is a direct assault on the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya, particularly the right to freedom of expression and access to information.

We would like to reiterate that Kenya’s GEN Z make up 34 % of the Country’s population, if we added 21% of the population that are Millennials, then the voting youth are a minimum 55% of Kenya’s voting population. This Kenya Kwanza administration is therefore stealing and squandering our future, we cannot allow them. We will be in the streets protesting till they stop this theft guised in Budgeted Corruption.

No amount of armoury, guns, tear gas police brutality or maiming of the citizenry can hold a regime in power. People Power as enshrined in the Constitution at Art 37 and espoused by Art 10 of The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 is the best that our fore-bearers handed this nation. We urge Kenyans to forever use these provisions to ensure that the country does not glide into the dictatorship of the yester-years.

The United Green Movement Party (UGM Party) would like thank Kenyans for turning out to elect their favorite leaders on 9th August, 2022. As a Party, we were not lucky to make the achievements we had projected, we thank our support base for showing up and voting for our candidates across the country. As Greens, we have already started the journey of making Greens major part of our County Assemblies and the House of Parliament as we look forward to victory in the 2027 General Elections.

https://www.youtube.com/live/_Wq6HU_Phq4?si=8Dgm2lhi45VuUNOr

Fellow Country men and Women, the United Green Movement Party is on this 24th day of April 2022, giving nomination certificates to 96 aspirants from across the country. We have sent out 2 Governor Candidates, 2 senators, 15 Members of Parliament and 77 Members of the County Assembly. The total number of women aspirants are 30. As a party that believes in equality, we would like to encourage as many women as possible to offer themselves for elective offices in each election.

The United Green Movement Party has Rule of Law as a pillar of its Manifesto. The pillar on the rule of law, requires of us to hold public institutions accountable for the work that they are by law supposed to do. We would like to on this Valentine’s Day, spread love to Kenyans by holding the
Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission accountable, for what in our view might cost Kenyans a transparent, and peaceful General Election in August 2022.
We would like to highlight five areas, which in our view the Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission (The Commission) is still performing below par;

It is the belief on the rule of law that makes nations civilized, absent that, a nation is simply
inviting anarchy upon itself. The Constitution of Kenya at Article 159 bestows judicial authority.
This judicial authority is derived from the people, and vests in, and shall be exercised by, the
courts and tribunals established by the Constitution. It need not be gainsaid that in Kenya, it is
the people who are sovereign and any State Officer, Public Officer whosoever they may be, only
exercises delegated authority as an agent of the people, who are principal.

The United Green Movement Party manifesto has five pillars of Youth Unemployment, Environment, Economy, Rule of law, Social Justice and Equality.
As a rule of law issue, we would like to laud the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission that has today the 4th of October, 2021 commenced a process, which could be the final stretch of mass voter registration before the August 2022 General Elections. Voter registration in accordance with Section 5 of the Elections Act, is however supposed to be carried out at all times, this mass voter registration enables awareness creation and other voter related education to be conducted en masse.

The Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) released new fuel pump prices last week. That announcement was not received very well by many Kenyans because of the spiral effect the cost of fuel has on several sectors of the economy. Granted, taxes on fuel are a relatively effective source of government revenue, especially when faced with inefficient collection on both personal and corporate income. However, higher and increasing oil prices can have a wide range of adverse economic impacts ranging from a reduction in economic growth which means shrinking job opportunities for young Kenyans, export competitiveness which narrows our GDP options, logistics costs, public transport affordability, reduced household consumption of essentials such as food with its attendant high cost of living, to external accounts disequilibria and inflation.

The United Green Movement Party is an equality political party, with our leadership being a 50-50 representation of female and male. However, equality is not just about ticking the boxes for the numbers, it also needs to meet form. The BBI Constitutional amendment proposed 47 female senators and 47 male senators but did not keep in mind that the senate seeks to represent the counties. That the senators per county ought to vote as one unit! What would happen in the case of divergent opinions of senators from a county on a vote before the senate, what if the two senators in a given county are from two different political parties or have two different political persuasions? The BBI amendment did not reflect upon this. For them, it was to provide for the numbers and bingo!

Kenya is a nation at risk, the ECONOMY is grinding in slow motion. As we speak, Kenya is heavily debt laden. The Parliament of Kenya, to our chagrin, keeps moving our debt ceilings to very unsustainable levels, despite the 1992 Maastricht Treaty binding signatories, of a debt to GDP ratio of no more than 60%. Some of our national assets may soon be auctioned to service the debt!

Today we will be marching to the house of Parliament to dramatize the cause of Youth Unemployment, we will be petitioning Parliament for social safety nets for the unemployed youth in this country. There are millions of unemployed graduates, diploma holders, rural unskilled youth, yet President Uhuru Kenyatta and the former Prime Minister Odinga have no shame in stealing money meant for this vulnerable population. We will be petitioning Parliament to pay a monthly cash stipend to unemployed graduates across the country and also set aside money for the unskilled unemployed youth in the villages under cash for work schemes, to make the youth of our country productive.

We are gathered here as the United Green Movement Party National Governing Convention. The United Green Movement Party turned 2 years on 12th June, 2021. We are here not only to celebrate this milestone as a Party, but take stock of the journey we have walked thus far. We are also here to discuss how to address issues that concern good governance in Kenya, giving proposals for some key areas.

Torch has been Lit for Africa’s Generational Liberation Struggle.

United Green Movement Statement on Doctors Strike.

UGM press release on the President’s State of the Nation Address

UGM Response to CJ’s Advice to President

Joint Statement by Women on CJ Advisory to the President.