In Kayole last week, protests by residents filled the air after police allegedly killed a resident, a 38 year old man post curfew time. Same scenes were witnessed in Kianjokoma in Embu two weeks ago. Residents angered by the killing of two brothers, 22 year old Benson Njiru and his younger brother, 19 year old Emmanuel Muturi. According to a postmortem report, they died from Broken ribs and head injuries caused by a blunt object.
The two are only the latest in the growing list of statistics linking police officers to killings. From British Aristocrat Alexander Mundson who died in hospital after allegedly being beaten at night while in police custody in Mombasa in 2012, Baby Samantha Pend, who died after being hit on the head in Nyalenda Kisumu during protests in 2017 elections.
Evans Njoroge was shot and killed in February 2018 during a protest by Meru university students. 23 year old Carrington Main, a Leeds university student who was killed in cold blood in Laini Saba, Kibira in December 2018. The 13 year old Eyasin Moyo, who was shot dead in March 2018 as he stood on a balcony watching police officers enforcing the curfew. The IPOA is mandated to carry out investigations on cases against police officers. Complains filed against the police are many, among them; extortion, injuries from police shooting, physical assault, negligence of duty, abuse of office, harassment, s3xual assault and unlawful arrest. However for those seeking justice, it is one long journey. Since its inception in 2012, IPOA has received over 18,000 cases by December last year. Out of these, the authority has attained conviction in only 12 cases. The big question is, when will these more than 17,000 people get justice?