Reports of alleged kidnapping and abductions were rampant on Tuesday with top social media users who had been vocal in promoting the protest in the platforms targeted.
In what attracted outpouring of condemnation from some criminal justice sector actors led by Chief Justice Martha Koome, reports say at least 10 people had been plucked from the streets or their homes by plain clothed gun men believed to be police officers.
Civil society groups also swung in, blaming President William Ruto for regressing on his promise not to use police against the dissenting public.
LSK president Faith Odhiambo, who has been hands-on in seeking freedom for those detained, put the number of Kenyans so far abducted at 50.
“Reports that we have received indicate that about 50 young Kenyans have so far been abducted including my personal assistant Ernest Nyerere, who was picked up from his residence this morning at 5am,” she said.
CJ Koome condemned the reported abductions, demanding that Kenyans be arrested in a lawful manner and presented before courts within 24 hours as required by the constitution.
Some of the victims were reportedly released, like Shad Kiprono who had been picked a day earlier on the streets at night.
His family had expressed fears that the health of the sickly banker could take a hit as he did not have his medicines on him.
Gabriel Oguda, Osama Otero and his brother was among those reported to have been picked from their homes in the wee hours of the morning.
Oguda works as a policy analyst in the office of National Assembly Minority leader Opiyo Wandayi and has been vocal in posting ant-government content.
Officials who did not want to be named said this was among strategies being used to defuse the planned protests against the proposed taxes.
Osama Otero has been holding popular X Spaces opposing the Finance Bill 2024 in which angry members of the public have been expressing their raw ire against government officials.
Other X users who are suspected to have been abducted include Drey Mwangi, TemperCR7, Harriet, Shad, Franje, Worldsmith and Hilla254.
Many others are missing after being abducted by state agents amid uproar from families and friends.
Among them was Nyerere and his girlfriend after they were abducted from their home at around 5am.
In what appeared to have been a coordinated roundup, Otero tweeted about strangers at his home almost the same time as Oguda.
“Guys are outside where I am,” his last post which has since gone viral read. Police have not officially commented on the issue.
Other Kenyans planning to join the protests said the actions were provocative. Many social media users joined the call to free those detained.
#FreeOguda and #FreeOsama quickly became the second and third most trending topics in Kenya shortly after their abduction. #RejectFinanceBill2024 hashtag which has since gone global had already hit 3.59 million posts on Tuesday morning making it the most trending topic in East Africa.
Odhiambo said, “extra-Judicial killings, incidents of police abductions, torture and being kept in communicado for several days, are back like never before!”
She urged advocates to step up in firm solidarity with protesting Kenyans.
“When the colonial courts jailed more than 500 Mau Mau supporters in September 1952 without legal representation, Argwings K’Odhek single handedly took on the formidable challenge of defending their (Mau Mau) rights by arguing in court that “Human rights are indivisible and universal thus, freedom cannot be appropriate in the West but inapplicable in Africa.”
She had earlier accused the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and National Police Service of being behind a series of abductions of Kenyans opposing the Finance Bill.
“We call on all members of the public to be extra vigilant at this time. Let us continue to share and communicate any information you may have to establish the whereabouts of our comrades,” she said.