• Ipoa says police top brass appear to be laid back in ensuring accountability of officers.
• Authority says its scope of power limited as it cannot execute its recommendations; relies on ODPP, the judicial branch and the National Police service to act.
Image: ANDREW KASUKU
The surging rate of misuse of firearms and excessive force in the police service despite billions pumped to reform it is worrying, police watchdog Ipoa has said.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority board said it was concerned that despite massive investment to reform the service into an accountable and rights-observing entity, cases of excessive use of force against unarmed civilians were still rife.
"Ipoa has noted with a lot of concern that the misuse of firearms and use of excessive force continue to be the biggest challenge facing the National Police Service," it said.
The Anne Makori-led board said it was saddening that police top brass appeared to be laid back in ensuring accountability of officers yet they have a role in ensuring respect to the rule of law.
"As custodians of the rule of law in this country, it goes without saying that the Inspector General, deputies and the general National Police Service are expected to be the strongest advocate for respecting the constitution and the law they have the responsibility of enforcing," they said.
The police have dominated the headlines in the recent weeks for their forceful repression of protests that then turn violent, occasioning loss of lives and injuries.
Only three weeks into the new year, reports indicate that close to 13 deaths are attributable to police action, mainly use of excessive force and or misuse of firearms.
For example, the police are accused of killing Stephen Machurusi on January 15 during a demonstration over the dilapidated state of the Mwiki-Kasarani Road.
The board announced that it had launched investigations into the death of the 19-year-old whose postmortem examination showed the bullet had hit his chest, perforated through his lung and got out through his back.
The authority also announced investigations into the fatal shooting of a popular skater in Majengo on January 16. It said Ahmed Majid, 24, was in the company of his friends when he tried to intervene when two officers known in the area tried to arrest one Yasin Mohamed for selling bhang. One of the officers is said to have slapped Majid and shot him in the stomach killing him.
The authority also said it had commenced investigations into the manner in which the police handled the parallel BBI meeting in Mumias last weekend amid claims the officers had used excessive force to dismiss those who tried to gather at the Nabongo grounds.
Moreover, the board warned officers using excessive force that they would be on their own if they are found to have violated the law and service standing orders in their work even if they have been given the orders by their superiors.
"Ipoa firmly reminds all police officers that use of force and firearms must be in accordance with the law and that force must only be used as a last resort and in accordance with the service standing orders, NPS Act of 2011 and in compliance with international laws," the board said.
Missing cooperation
Defending its record, the board said the authority's scope of power was limited as it cannot execute its recommendations; relies on ODPP, the judicial branch and the National Police service to act.
For example, it said that while it has over 20 cases under active investigations involving police officers, the affected officers remain in service as it has no powers to have them suspended or interdicted.
This makes the officers able to interfere with their own investigation.
Even when it has completed its probing, it has to forward the file to the ODPP who then makes the determination of whether to charge.
Sometimes files overstay at the DPP Haji's desk.
One case is that of Carilton Maina, the Leeds University engineering student killed by the police in December 2018 whose file the authority forwarded to the ODPP last year in April. No action has been taken and the accused officer remains on duty.
The board said that of the 174 files the agency has forwarded to the office of the director of public prosecution since March 2015, over 44 cases are still languishing in the desk of the office.
Seventy five of these cases are pending before court while 26 have been concluded.
Five have been cleared by the ODPP while 21 were resolved locally without advancing to the judicial branch. Thirty of the cases were petitioned out of which nothing much has happened, it said.
Edited by R.Wamochie