Police now biggest threat to public in fight against virus

A police officer and a trader at Bamburi in Mombasa. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Kenya’s security agencies, set up to preserve and protect the lives of citizens, have come under heavy scrutiny since the announcement of the dusk-to-dawn curfew.

From brutal and sometimes fatal beatings, to shootings, harassment, bribery to let busloads of people across county boundaries, the police service is fast becoming the weakest link in the country’s fight against the virus. This is in direct contradiction to a presidential directive that implored officers to handle those who are found to flout these regulations reasonably.

Now the police service is under the spotlight for these infringements, including not adhering to the very rules they are meant to enforce, like wearing of face masks.

These acts of brutality have in some instances resulted in the public acting out, targeting the very law enforcement officers meant to protect them. In Malindi, Base commander George Naibei was attacked by rogue boda boda riders on April 14 while enforcing anti-Covid-19 regulations. The act became a violent confrontation in which a police car was extensively damaged and a Kilifi county askari injured.

In a video that went viral, Naibei is seen fighting with a boda boda rider while several other riders are cheering their colleague on. Eventually, Naibei is overwhelmed and he escapes under a hail of stones.

Demand bribe

The security officers were out to enforce regulations for riders to wear face masks and obey social distancing and traffic rules when the disobedient operators fought back, accusing them of harassing and demanding bribes.

Naibei was attacked by a man enraged by the seizure of his motorcycle as the situation became a free for all. Eight men were later arrested for the violence and dozens of motorcycles impounded.

The Kilifi incident attracted the attention of Governor Amason Kingi, who organised an impromptu stakeholders meeting with police, boda boda riders, health officers, businessmen and other stakeholders to address the issue.

While Naibei’s action has been celebrated, other acts of omission by police have been blamed for fueling the spread of Covid-19. Despite the dozens of roadblocks on the Mombasa highway, police have been accused of allowing travellers aboard private trucks and even private cars and politicians’ entourages to slip through for a fee. These moves defeat the curfew or other lock-down measures.

In the era of citizen journalism, videos and pictures have emerged of police arresting individuals for not wearing face masks yet the officers themselves wore none.

A spot check by The Standard at the Likoni Ferry crossing, for instance, showed many policemen don’t wear masks or wear them improperly while in public. This is not the only rule they flout.

On April 14, two senior police officers were arrested in Kisauni while on a drinking spree past the curfew hours. The duo attached to Shimo La Tewa Prison were busted by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and prison officers when they raided a locked bar in Majaoni, Kisauni,  in the night. They have neither been charged nor heard from since.

On Tuesday, Kisauni Sub county police commander Julius Kiragu claimed they have not been charged “because courts are not operating” and suggested they will be charged when normal  operations resume. However, other cases of ordinary wananchi has seen many, including Kilifi Deputy Governor Gideon Saburi charged in court the same week.

Morover, roadblocks have been turned into toll stations. Two weeks ago three buses with residents of Meru and Embu counties were stopped at Makindu after they had slipped through dozens of police roadblocks in defiance of the curfew.

Last week, several survivors of Covid-19, who came out of quarantine in Nairobi told The Standard in Mombasa they bribed police to be allowed to travel to the coast aboard trucks transporting food and other essential supplies.

“I paid Sh100 to an officer in Voi after they began to question me. I was surprised he took such a small bribe but it is apparent they are getting so much money in these quantities,” boasted one of the violators. Former chairman of the Commission on Administrative Justice Otiende Omollo, who is currently the Rarieda MP, has criticised the police highhandedness.

“As the president issues decrees, CSs pronounce edits, governors declare orders and police proclaim threats, let us remember that the constitution and the law are not on suspension. With all necessary and reasonable measures, let us fight the virus, not the victims,” he said yesterday.

Elsewhere, a police officer in Nyeri attached to a High Court judge is nursing a broken leg after he was attacked by his colleagues, who were enforcing the curfew. The officer’s 10-year-old nephew also has a fractured arm following the ordeal in Tetu constituency.

He said he was attacked by fellow officers after his car broke down a few metres from his home in Muthinga village in Nyeri County. Even those offering essential services have not been spared.

Twelve medical officers at the Thika Level 5 Hospital were held for nearly two hours at a police roadblock as they were reporting for duty yesterday morning.

The medics, including clinical officers, nurses and support staff, were being transported in a bus belonging to Mount Kenya University from their places of residence in various parts of Murang’a.

However, on reaching the Blue Post roadblock, the bus was flagged down by GSU officers manning the facility and the occupants ordered out.

One of the medics, Catherine Wanjiru, said despite displaying their job cards pick them up, the GSU officers remained adamant.