More police officers were injured than protesters during the country’s youth-led demonstrations, Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja said.

According to the police chief, there were 495 injuries among police officers compared to 347 injuries among civilians.

This translates into 48 more officers being injured than demonstrators during the month-long street battle, which culminated in the first invasion of Parliament on 25 June 2024.

“At least 1,552 protesters were arrested and others caught on camera were prosecuted for commuting,” Kanja told the National Assembly’s Committee on Internal Security and Administration.

The police chief was accompanied by the Deputy Inspector General in charge of the National Police Service Eliud Lagat and the Deputy Director of Criminal Investigations John Onyango.

The IG also told the Committee chaired by Narok West Gabriel Tongoyo that 42 deaths were recorded during the period.

Kanja also told the Committee that 57 cases of abductions and abductions were reported during this period.

However, he denied any connection with police officers calling the claims propaganda.

“The National Police Service has since recorded a total of 57 cases of abduction and abduction that have been reported nationwide from June 2024 to date,” he said.

Kanja was appearing before the Tongoyo-led committee on kidnappings and abductions going on in the country.

Kenya is witnessing an unprecedented wave of kidnappings and assassinations targeting various individuals.

Abductions and enforced disappearances have been linked to state security agents.

The head of Human Rights Watch, Otsieno Namwaya, told the Star that the number of those still missing could be in the hundreds.

He said his organization investigates cases of missing persons, those not yet found classified as enforced disappearances, those solved classified as arbitrary arrests and deaths characterized as extrajudicial killings.

“We believe up to 132 people or more are still missing since the protests. The state used security agents to silence the families from coming forward,” Namwaya said.