Ipoa probes 190 cases of suspected extrajudicial killings

Josephine Wangare,mother of the slained Leeds University student by Police Carlton Maina reacts at the Amnesty International public hearing in Kibera on January 2,2019./ENOS TECHE
Josephine Wangare,mother of the slained Leeds University student by Police Carlton Maina reacts at the Amnesty International public hearing in Kibera on January 2,2019./ENOS TECHE

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority is investigating 190 cases of suspected extrajudicial killings.

Communication officer Dennis Okech said since inception the authority has investigated 292 cases. Ipoa has successfully convicted six cases in court, he said. A further 30 cases are in court.

Among the cases Ipoa is probing is that of the UK’s Leeds University student, who was allegedly shot dead by police in Kibera slum during Christmas holiday.

Police claimed the student – Carilton David Maina, 23, – was among a group of thugs that had been terrorising Line Saba residents.

But Ipoa said Maina has just come from watching a football match, when they were confronted by two police officers. He was shot dead.

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In another case, police officers are accused of shooting a man and later followed him in hospital, where he was receiving treatment in a Mathare clinic. They allegedly forcibly took him away before his body was found at City Mortuary with multiple gunshot wounds.

The victim was identified as Evans Odhiambo. He was a mechanic and was on his way from work. He encountered police officers who were pursuing robbers.

Residents said they rushed him to Mathare Health Centre, where he was admitted before being removed by the alleged officers.

Odhiambo’s case is among others that Ipoa said will soon be handed over to the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions for further action.

In another case, Fredrick Omondi was allegedly accosted, assaulted and fatally shot when he tried to flee from two police officers. He was heading home from Rongo town. The unidentified police officers were allegedly attached to Kamagambo police station.

Other incidents are the shooting of six people in Dandora, Nairobi, and the killing of Abdia Adan in Mandera county.

Ipoa is also investigating the shooting of Bahati Juma in Malindi. He was ferrying two sacks of charcoal on his motorcycle when he noticed two vehicles following him. He allowed the two vehicles to overtake him but one car stopped and two officers alighted. “One of the officers allegedly shot him twice, hitting him once in the left shoulder,” an earlier report by Ipoa said.

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The authority is also following an incident where officers attached to Malakisi police station in Bungoma county shot dead George Wekesa.

The officers, who were assigned to raid illicit brew dens in Butonge, allegedly assaulted Wekesa, leading to his death. His death led to a demonstration by residents. In the protests, the police allegedly shot dead one person and injured others.

Still in Western region, officers fatally shot four people and injured six others. The two police officers were on a mission to arrest a man for alleged wife battering. But things turned tragic when residents intervened.

The officers sought reinforcement, subsequently two people were fatally shot. Another was injured.

Ipoa released the fresh cases just a few months after a new board, led by Anne Makori, took over.

In the recent past, the country has reported an upsurge in cases of extrajudicial killings.

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