• More than 10 female officers from Nairobi and North Eastern have filed a long list of the man's bizarre activities.
• The officers say they and the wives of their junior male colleagues are never safe in his presence.
Image: FILE
It's an open secret among some women police officers in Nairobi that one of their bosses has an unacceptable sexual behaviour.
They are never safe in his presence. And this also applies to the wives of his junior officers.
This man - an Officer Commanding Station- has robbed many a woman of their dignity.
But some of his "victims" have chosen not to suffer in silence and have reported him to investigative agencies like the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the Internal Affairs Unit.
The man was sent on compulsory leave a few weeks ago and is now under investigation.
An officer who chose not to be named for her safety and fear of victimisation recalled her ordeal to the Star.
One day, she was performing her police duties when the OCS called her to his office.
Once inside and the door closed, the man demanded that she lifts her skirt for him to see her panties.
She was shocked but the man was not through with her. On another different day, he summoned her to his office and this time demanded sex.
There were no formalities. He pinned her against the wall and raped her. He also had anal sex with her.
The man forced-kissed her and left bite marks on her cheeks and mouth.
“He is so violent. You see this mark near the lip, he bit me…I know other officers who have suffered sexually under him,” she said during an interview at a location along Thika Road.
Yesterday, sources at the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU), where his case is being handled, told the Star that he is likely to be arraigned soon.
The sexual assault victims anonymously wrote to DCI's Gender and Children department about the officer.
The department, which is based at the DCI Academy in South C forwarded the matter to IAU.
Contacted by phone, AIU director Mohamed Amin denied knowledge of the matter. “Please call the IG. He is the right person to ask those matters,” he said.
The probe is a result of a long list of grievances by more than 10 female officers from three police stations in Nairobi and another in Northeastern. All the complainants have identical stories of harassment by the OCS.
Another victim cancelled two interviews with this reporter, fearing that her narration might leak and cause her more trouble.
“Usikuje, nitakuambia (don’t come, I’ll let you know). The matter is being handled by investigators. Let them do their work,” she said.
The OCS is said to be well-connected. His seniors allegedly shield him from disciplinary measures.
On Thursday, Ipoa chairperson Anne Makori said the agency had received the officer's file but had returned it to AIU "for gaps to be filled".
Makori told the Star: “The IAU sent us the file but after looking at it, we found that there were three witnesses whose statements we deemed critical, so we took the matter back to them to bring the three on board.”
The IAU had made its own probe before sending the file to Ipoa.
“We are of the view that the AIU will complete the investigations,” Makori said.
The OCS had not responded to our calls over the matter by press time.
The investigation against the OCS comes amid reports of violence and use of excessive force on suspects held at the police station under his watch.
In September 2019, two male suspects appeared in Makadara Law Courts in underwear. They told the court that the station boss had ordered them to strip.
Three months later, the officer in charge was summoned by the Makadara court following increasing reports of torture by suspects while in the police custody.
Some suspects claimed the charges preferred against them were different from those they were arrested for.
"The complaints from your station are not against any other officer other than yourself. There must be a problem,” a senior magistrate told him.
In May this year, the said officer found himself in court again to explain how a foreigner charged with kidnapping a police officer escaped from custody.
However, some of those who have worked closely with the officer say he is a no-nonsense boss who treats the rich and the poor equally. They say he is being fought by crime-linked cartels in the Central Business District.
- mwaniki fm