Leaders in Busia want investigative agencies to probe an incident in which a man was allegedly shot dead by a police officer for not wearing a mask.
Family members have also said they want their son's killer to face the law.
They said it is the duty of the police to protect life, not to unjustifiably take it.
Governor Sospeter Ojaamong said the shooting of 20-year-old Ezekiel Odera in Malaba on Friday evening was only the tip of what has become of the police force.
“Friday's incident at a roadblock in Malaba is not only regrettable but calls for thorough investigations. The culprit should be brought to book,” he said in a statement.
Ojaamong said quick action by the DCI and the Independent Police Oversight Authority led to the arrest of the "trigger-happy" officer on Saturday.
"The county has witnessed several cases of police harassment. We need investigations into these cases and perpetrators made to answer for their inhumane acts.”
The shooting of the man triggered violent protests in Malaba town as residents demanded justice for the bereaved family.
Regular police and General Service Unit officers from Akichelesit GSU camp were deployed to restore calm as protesters lit bonfires along the Malaba-Bungoma highway and along the Malaba-Angurai road.
Protesters said Odera should have been arrested and arraigned if indeed he was not wearing a mask.
Teso North MP Oku Kaunya said the officer who pulled the trigger ending the life of the 20-year-old must be brought to book.
“Law enforcement agencies are bound to protect life and have no right to take another’s life. I am saddened by this ugly incident as a result of a single officer's action that claimed the life of a vibrant young man,” said the MP, who is a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Administration and National Security.
“I condemn with the strongest terms possible such an incorrigible act by the law enforcement officer. I call upon IPOA, the Kenya National Human Rights Commission and the National Police Service to take drastic action against the officer.”
The MP said some of the problems residents of Teso North are facing emanate from police officers overstaying in one station.
He said there are officers in Malaba and other neighbouring police stations who have worked in his constituency for over five years. Kaunya called for their immediate transfer.
Teso North Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Fred Papa demanded justice for Odera’s family.
MCAs Bernard Papa (Malaba Central) and Patrick Omanyala (Malaba North) accused the GSU officers of using excessive force to calm the protests. Several protesters were arrested.
The two and other leaders marched to Malaba police station to demand the release of residents who were arrested by police during the protests.
All those who had been arrested were released after the MCAs intervention. No charges were preferred against them.
Margaret Okiru, the mother to the deceased, said the government should compensate her family for the demise of her son. She said Odera was 'the economic pillar of her home'.
“I am very disappointed with the police. How do you kill somebody for not wearing a mask?”
She told reporters at her home in Kajei-Enyuru village on the outskirts of Malaba town that she had never seen her son quarrel with anybody.
Okiru said her son, a former student at Kalanya Boys High School in Teso North subcounty, had returned home on Friday evening and told her he was returning to Malaba town to close a car wash he was operating.
The distraught mother said her son informed her that he would return home immediately after closing business.
“He left without knowing that police officers were at the Malaba roadblock. He was innocent. He did not know he was ,” the grieving mother said.
Okiru said she received information 30 minutes later that her son had been shot dead by police.
County police commander John Nyoike said if the officer who allegedly shot Odera is found guilty, he will face the law like any other ordinary Kenyan.
