Who is Rose Njeri? Soft-spoken activist arrested over Finance Bill protest app

Web developer and activist Rose Njeri Tunguru found herself at the centre of national attention last week following her arrest on allegations of cybercrime.

Authorities claim she was behind the development of a digital platform designed to collect public feedback on the 2025 Finance Bill—an app that purportedly disrupted parliamentary email systems.

While Njeri has been a vocal advocate for good governance on social media, much remains unknown about the soft-spoken mother of two. 

Citizen TV caught up with her already back in Nairobi’s Embakasi area, quietly re-twisting her dreadlocks at a local salon a day after she was released on personal bond by the Milimani Law Courts.

It had been a long weekend in police custody, and it took much persuasion for her to agree to the interview.

Njeri describes her arrest as ridiculous but says the experience has only strengthened her resolve.

“Wamenilalisha cell siku nne away from my kids… now I’m going to be deliberate about it… It’s not something that I started, it has been there… mimi naishi tu maisha yangu doing it… so I have skills… hii kitu I saw it online and executed it…” said Njeri.

She recounts being trailed by officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and arrested during a graduation ceremony in Nairobi’s Industrial Area. She was then taken to her home, where detectives conducted a search and seized electronics and digital devices.

“Waliniambia ‘wewe mama tunajua mahali unaishi, house number 31, ebu panda hizo stairs haraka ama tukugonge’… wakaingia, wakanilazimisha kufungua mlango…” she noted.

The four days she spent in custody, she says, were the longest of her life, yet the officers didn’t seem to know what to charge her with.

“Wakinipeleka DCI waliniambia niandikishe statement, nikawaambia sijui ni nini nimefanya… when they asked me why I developed the app, nikatulia… at first I was anxious because I did not know what crime I had committed…” Njeri stated.

Njeri was eventually presented in court on Tuesday and released on a personal bond of Ksh.100,000. The court is expected to rule on June 20 whether she will stand trial on cybercrime charges.

Her case has drawn sharp reactions from civil society groups, who argue it reflects a growing crackdown on civic tech and online activism in Kenya.

Njeri has found herself at odds with the government after developing an online tool known as Civic Email, designed to facilitate public objections to the Finance Bill 2025.

She was arrested in South B on Friday afternoon and taken to Pangani Police Station.

Her detention has ignited a storm of criticism online, with human rights activists demanding to know why she remains in custody without bail or formal charges.

Initially, she hosted it on Netlify, a platform that lets developers build and deploy web applications and websites.

But in a few days, the site became inaccessible, and visitors following the link got the error message: “Site not found. Looks like you followed a broken link or entered a URL that doesn’t exist.”

On May 26, Njeri then announced that she now hosted Civil Email on another similar developer platform known as Vercel.