NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 24 \u2013 The arrest of one of the women who stormed Health Cabinet Secretary Dr. Deborah Barasa\u2019s press briefing at Afya House last week, has sparked uproar on social media, with many condemning it as an attack on free expression.<\/p>\n
Grace Njoki was arrested Thursday while seeking medical services at Ladnan Hospital in Eastleigh, where she had gone to apply for knee surgery.<\/p>\n
Her son, George Mulei, told journalists she was abducted by individuals identifying themselves as DCI officers. \u201cShe called me frantically shouting that they had \u2018come for her.\u2019 By the time I arrived at the hospital, she was already gone,\u201d Mulei said in an alert to newsrooms.<\/p>\n
She was detained at Capitol Hill Police Station, where police were preparing to arraign her in court on Friday morning with creating a disturbance and resisting arrest. <\/p>\n
Her lawyer, Johnston Daniel Junior, said she has been denied cash bail and accused the police of forcing her to write statements under duress. He criticized the arrest as excessive and unwarranted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a woman who was simply demanding the operationalization of the Social Health Authority (SHA). Now, she\u2019s being treated like a criminal. Deploying 12 to 15 officers to arrest her is excessive,\u201d Daniel said.<\/p>\n
Njoki\u2019s arrest has ignited backlash online, with activists, lawyers, and members of the public calling for her immediate release. Many have condemned the government\u2019s response, arguing that it is silencing voices of dissent. The hashtag #FreeGraceNjoki has gained traction, with social media users demanding justice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are the DCI arresting her yet she was protesting about a dysfunctional health insurance system?\u201d one X user, Justin Ndegwa, wrote. <\/p>\n
Abel Mokaya added, \u201cIntimidation on the public by the government won\u2019t help solve matters. The government should instead sort the mess.\u201d<\/p>\n
Njoki was among two women who stormed the Ministry of Health offices last week to protest delays in implementing SHA, which aims to provide universal health coverage. Her lawyer insists that her actions were those of a concerned citizen exercising her democratic rights.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 24 \u2013 The arrest of one of the women who stormed Health Cabinet Secretary Dr. Deborah Barasa\u2019s press briefing at Afya House last week, has sparked uproar on social media, with many condemning it as an attack on free expression. Grace Njoki was arrested Thursday while seeking medical services at Ladnan Hospital […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108515\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}