- In November alone the authority secured convictions of six officers involved in various cases of killings.
- The authority enhanced its outreach including media engagement as well as increasing its grassroots presence.
Image: FILE
Over 50 cops were arraigned in 2021 as Ipoa intensified its fight against rampant police violence and impunity.
The alleged offenses, often established after prolonged investigations by the Independent Police Oversight Authority, ranged from harassing members of the public, brutality, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
To catch the offenders, the authority enhanced its outreach including media engagement as well as increasing its grassroots presence to enable members of the public to report incidents easily.
Also, the authority's board engaged in regular field visits including inspection of police stations to ensure that officers' working environment was healthy and friendly to members of the public.
For those found to have abused their power, Ipoa tightened the grip on them, pushing to prosecution of many.
For example, in November alone the authority secured convictions of six officers involved in various cases of killings while 30 more had prosecutors baying for their blood since August.
On November 15, a Mombasa court jailed four officers- Naftali Chege, Charles Munyiri, Ismael Baraka and John Pamba - after finding then guilty of having a role in the killing of Briton Alexander Monson, son of British aristocrat Lord Nicholas Monson.
Chege got 15 years, Munyiri 12, Baraka nine and Pamba 12 years.
However, the court said that the four will serve 10 years, six, four and six years respectively because part of the sentence had been suspended in line with manslaughter cases.
In the case, the prosecution had told the court that Chege arrested Monson, 28, on the night of May 28, 2012 for smoking bhang at a nightclub in Diani.
He later died and while police claimed he succumbed to a drug overdose, an autopsy confirmed he died from injuries inflicted on his head, scrotum and hand with a blunt object, suggesting he had been tortured.
Just two weeks before that, two police officers-Denis Langat and Kennedy Okuli- were jailed by a Garissa court for shooting dead a woman named Abdia Omar Adan in Mandera in 2018.
According to Missing Voices, a constellation of human right groups, the police watchdog had probed 25 out of the 30 officers suspected to have been involved in the death of eight people across the country.
Four others are to answer charges of causing the disappearance of one person in Nairobi, while one officer is accused of defiling a minor in Kiambu.
At the same time, Ipoa also saw some six officers charged with the murder of Sylvanus Oree Owinji in Homa Bay on September 17, 2017.
Constables Bernard Maritim, Michael Ochango, Edwin Maenga, Silas Anyira, Steven Owiro and Wycliffe Cheptoo suspected that Owinji was growing and dealing in bhang and stormed his home in Kochia to arrest him.
According to Ipoa, Owinji resisted arrest and the officers allegedly descended on him with beatings. He succumbed to his injuries the next day on September 18, 2017.
Further, four more officers were also recommended to be charged in connection with disappearance of Philip Otieno Ondiro, Ipoa announced on October 28.
The officers - Francis Githonga, Carlistus Ekidor Apalla, Samwel Mokaya Makori and Alex Munene - were accused of storming the house of Ondiro on February 1, 2015 and forcibly taking him a way. He has never been seen since.
They bundled him into the car and sped off, in case billed at the first to be prosecuted for enforced disappearance.
Other officers have been prosecuted for allegations of defilement. For example, on October 26, officer Jacob Ojiambo was charged for allegedly defiling a Standard 8 girl on April 14, 2019 in Kiambu.
A warrant of arrest was also issued against his brother Dismas Mujibu, a teacher of the minor who is claimed to have abetted the vice. He is a co-accused in the case.
According to Ipoa, the minor was allegedly defiled at the officer’s house within Mitahato AP camp where the officer lived with his brother, a Mathematics tutor who was well known to the girl.
In relation to other incidents that happened on November 12, 2017, and August 15, 2013, four police officers (Charles Mwakio, Lewis Msuya, Peter Kananu and Julia Kimbiyo) were charged with the death of two men in Nairobi and Mombasa.
Charles Mwakio and Julia Kimbiyo were charged with manslaughter, while Peter Kananu was recommended for disciplinary action. Lewis Msuya, accused of assaulting and killing Said Ibrahim, will be charged with murder.
On August 26, an inspector of police was charged with the murder of Tony Katana, a secondary school student in the Uwanja wa Mbuzi area of Kongowea, Mombasa, on August 12, 2016.
John Otieno is accused of shooting and killing Katana while dismissing a crowd in the market. Katana, aged 16, was a Form 2 student.
Right groups championing reforms to hold police officers accountable have applauded Ipoa, saying sustained action will rid the service of lawless officers.
They, however, challenge the DPP to fast-track the cases so that the affected families get justice.