Police changaa operation turns tragic after officer breaks leg

KAKAMEGA COUNTY: There was joy among illicit brew drinkers in Kambiri market of Kakamega when two officers chasing after a brewer broke a leg and the other tore his lips when a motorbike they were using swung, hit a pot hole and poured them on the ground, rendering their operation a cropper.

The Kenya Police Service officers attached to Mukhonje Police Post had been tipped off a syndicate of illicit brew traders who transport brew from Mukhonje (where chang'aa is brewed in large amounts along river Lusumu) to Ivakale on motorbikes during wee hours by a rival chang'aa seller who had quit the trade.

They then laid an ambush and at 5am a motorbike loaded with 80 litres of chang'aa rode by a hooded man carrying a woman-presumably the owner of the brew- roared past at super speed.

The police counted their blessings, ignited their hired motorbike and gave a chase of their lifetime little knowing the transporters of the brew are speed masters who have the topography of the murram road on their palms.

The hooded rider sensed he was being tracked and engaged the gears further, a couple minutes of the chase the good officers were closing near.

The hooded rider then changed course to a rougher side of the road and (un)luckily the police hit a pot hole the hooded rider had technically evaded, the next thing they were down nursing injuries one completely unable to rise.

Isukha North MCA Robert Lutatwa told The Standard that he was awaken by his constituents to joyous celebrations that morning only to realize they were celebrating over an unfortunate incident,

"I was alerted to quickly come at Kambiri market and as a peoples' servant I was there, I found my constituents celebrating because policemen had fallen from a speeding motorbike and severely injured. We organized with well-wishers and took them to a private clinic where they got first aid before being transferred to Kakamega County Hospital," he said.

Lutatwa says that he tried to talk to his people on how sad the event was but couldn't manage to convince them to stop making fun of it.

One excited man perhaps a drunkard wondered, "We have serious crimes which we need commitment from our officers to tackle, why hire a motorbike to perform duties when you have police vehicles? It could be an assurance we continue consuming the brew."

It is rumoured that the hooded rider came back to join the village laugh and boasted to his peers how his chase-bike driver was a joker who could match him.

The worst bit is that the Kenya Police had done the operation without informing their Administration Police counters who too it is believed joined the excitement.

Lutatwa visited the two officers at the County hospital over the weekend and assured The Standard that they are responding well to medication.