For more than a decade, Kenyans have been running from clouds of tear gas, coughing, burning, and in some cases, left with permanent injuries.
Few knew the origins of these “less-lethal” weapons trace back to decisions made over 15 years ago by former presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta.
Investigations by the Omega Research Foundation show that around 2010, Kenya quietly replaced French-made tear gas supplied by Nobel Securité with munitions from Israeli company ISPRA Ltd.
Archival protest images reveal the new branding on grenades and cartridges — a subtle but significant shift in how Kenya policed public dissent.
Security experts say the transition began in Kibaki’s final years, a time when the government faced the fallout from the 2007–08 post-election violence and was looking for “non-lethal” methods to control unrest.
“It was packaged as reform — moving away from bullets to less-lethal options,” said a former top security officer. “But the procurement process was never public, so no one knew what was really coming in.”
Under Kenyatta, whose administration ran a killer squad of 36 officers, who tortured and dumped people in River and National parks for animals to eat, Kenya deepened its security ties with Israel. Surveillance systems, border equipment, and advanced crowd-control technology flooded into the country. Omega’s report, titled Israeli Gas, Kenyan Tears, traces the export of large volumes of tear gas grenades and related riot-control gear between 2017 and 2022. Investigators verified over 40 videos and 120 images from protests, showing grenades and cartridges marked with ISPRA serials.
The report details the crowd-control weapons deployed by Kenyan security forces a 37–40 mm launchers firing rubber or chemical rounds, G2020-CS/CS multi-effect grenades releasing smoke, CS irritant, and stun effects, C850-XRB ammunition, kinetic rounds with multiple rubber balls and C850-1CS tear gas rounds containing CS irritant.
Omega notes that some grenades resembled products from other companies, like Macedonian Icemak, but the majority were traced to ISPRA Ltd. The report states: “The ‘less-lethal’ anti-riot gear collected by demonstrators… included impact rounds manufactured by ISPRA Ltd between 2017 and 2022… designed to manage crowds… However, in use it has been found that less-lethal weapons and munitions can cause serious injuries and sometimes deaths.”
While marketed as non-lethal, repeated deployment of these weapons has turned them into a public health crisis. Residents in Nairobi, Kisumu, and other towns report severe breathing difficulties, eye injuries, skin burns, and trauma. Some women told medics that exposure caused miscarriages or menstrual disruptions. Doctors struggled to treat victims, sometimes while police fired canisters near emergency treatment areas.
“During the protests, Kenyans reported seeing an orange-red substance used on crowds… named ‘Agent Orange’… leading to questions on what exactly it was and how potentially dangerous it might be,” the report adds.
Human rights defender Albert Kahindi said the pattern reflects a worrying approach to dissent. “When citizens question policies, the state responds with force. These weapons may be called non-lethal, but the impact is very real,” he said.
Omega also highlights the role of intermediaries in importing Israeli equipment. Multiple brokers have been used to obscure accountability, complicating oversight and leaving the public in the dark about what enters the country.
Kibaki and Kenyatta defended these acquisitions as necessary for stability, counterterrorism, and modernising police capacity. Critics argue, however, that opaque procurement and reliance on foreign intermediaries laid the foundation for the heavy-handed policing seen today.
“The consistent use of intermediaries and secondary channels by Israeli companies in Africa has been well documented,” the report notes. “This practice exemplifies Israel’s ‘middleman’ approach to diplomacy on the continent and allows them to maintain plausible deniability for controversial sales.”
The consequences of these decisions are now visible every time streets fill with smoke and hospitals are flooded with victims. Residents report lasting respiratory damage, chronic eye injuries, skin burns, and psychological trauma. Omega warns that repeated exposure erodes trust in authorities, suppresses dissent, and normalises authoritarian tactics.
“The health impacts are severe,” Chogo adds. “Kenyans who have been on the streets should expect long-term effects — chronic respiratory problems, permanent eye damage, and neurological injuries. These are not just temporary irritants; they are weapons with lasting consequences.”
Experts believe that the streets, hospitals, and homes filled with tear gas smoke are stark reminders that policies formulated years ago continue to shape Kenyans’ lives today.
Find more details on the link https://omegaresearchfoundation.org/storage/2025/05/Israeli-Gas-Kenyan-Tears.pdf#:~:text=Agents%20Used%20in%20the%20Kenya%20Demonstrations.%20This,questions%20the%20accountability%20of%20the%20actors%20involved.
