KENYAN communists were released from prison on Thursday after being detained for over 24 hours during a police raid.

Twenty-six activists from the Communist Party of Kenya (CPK), including its national treasurer Wahome Waringa, were released from Pangani Police Station, a suburb of Nairobi, after being detained and reportedly tortured at the hands of the police.

This is the latest in a series of attacks on the Communist Party by Kenyan authorities.

A statement from the CPK said its legal league, alongside progressive lawyers, “will pursue these cases to their rightful resolution.” 

The CPK said its members refused to be intimidated by the police and “defiantly sang freedom songs, bolstering resistance morale and unsettling their fearful abusers.”

In a statement on the X social media platform, the CPK said it wanted to thank “the Defenders Coalition for paying a total of 270,000 Kenyan shillings [around £1,639] to secure the comrades’ release through police cash bail.”

The CPK statement also revealed that the country’s director of public prosecution admitted there was a lack of evidence for any charges against the activists.

But the 27 activists are all scheduled to appear on May 16 at Makadara Law Court in central Nairobi.