Kenyan human rights organisations are raising the alarm over a sharp rise in politically sponsored gangs — known locally as "goons" — being hired to intimidate opponents, break up protests, and silence civil society voices ahead of the country's 2027 general elections. The Kenya Human Rights Commission describes the practice as "informal repression," in which political actors outsource violence to unaffiliated groups, allowing authorities to evade direct accountability; rights groups also allege that police have in some cases failed to intervene, a charge the National Police Service has called "preposterous." With recruits drawn from Nairobi's impoverished informal settlements for as little as four US dollars a day, advocates warn that economic hardship is fuelling the trend and that, without stronger independent policing, the violence could undermine the credibility of Kenya's democratic process.