Police turn a blind eye as culture of hiring goons goes unchecked

 

Youth in Kakamega town during anti-government protests. [Benjamin Sakwa, Standard]

Moments after the Kenya Defence Forces officers received a cordial reception in Nairobi’s Pipeline estate on Tuesday, several unmarked vehicles rolled in with the obvious goal of inciting fear.

Out of such cars, Subarus blank or concealed number plates now familiar to youth protesters, often come gun-wielding masked men and the ensuing terrifying bursts of gunfire. 

Several of those who have survived State-sanctioned abductions recount harrowing tales aboard the infamous cars, blindfolded and wedged between men who got a kick out of intimidating and hitting them.

Many protesters know the sighting of the infamous vehicles often precedes sharp wailing over the shooting of yet another protester. Under such circumstances, fear for life sets in naturally.

Across town, in Nairobi’s central business district, youths on boda bodas had been on the same mission of spreading terror. They streamed into the city in scores from several corners, bearing government-friendly placards.

They came in from Mukuru, Kibra, Kayole and Kangemi, among other areas, amid accusations that national and government officials had contracted them to counter peaceful protests that have given President William Ruto headaches.

As though on instruction, police officers, always keen to thwart any protests within the city centre, retreated and let the men, who would brazenly identify as ‘Goon Zs’, roam the ghost town freely.

The CBD’s boda boda operators were suspicious of the goons, whose clear aim was to intimidate Gen Z and Millennial protesters who had announced a continuation of their demonstrations.

The hired youths, who sources revealed came at a Sh500 to Sh1,000 price tag and had their motorbikes fueled, were initially peaceful and chanted pro-government slogans. They demanded an end to the anti-government protests that have lasted over a month.

Their actions mirrored those of hooligans who had raided activist Boniface Mwangi’s offices in Nairobi days earlier. Mwangi has actively rallied the masses on social media to oppose tax hikes and increased police brutality.

The goons had a penchant for violence. Several people told the press that the hooligans had terrorised and robbed them of their belongings, with such acts sparking clashes between them and town boda boda riders.

Violent encounters saw two motorbikes torched and one of the hired men injured by masses baying for his blood. That afternoon, Gen Zs would lead peaceful protests, with police, stunned by their presence at the CBD against announcements that they would occupy the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, not as heavy-handed as they have been.

Plainclothes

However, like the unmarked vehicles that stood out in Pipeline, it was the police vehicles with concealed number plates that mostly caught the eye. There was backlash online, amid accusations that the police service had reverted to being a force -- a rogue one, which is accountable to no one.

For more than a month, some police officers have opted to conceal their identities and activities, with observers complaining that  they were “operating like thugs”. Indeed, many of those accused of abducting protesters have been in plainclothes and wore balaclavas.

They roam in unmarked vehicles, with suspect number plates, such as the infamous white lorry and red double-cabin truck into which they bundle unsuspecting Kenyans.

“We have a rogue police service,” said security analyst George Musamali, who accused it of violating the principles of the Constitution.

Hussein Khalid, a human rights activist and lawyer, concurred.

“If you know you are doing something lawful, why are you hiding your identity?” posed Khalid, who has removed covers on the number plates of police vehicles and urged protesters to do the same for easier accountability.

“The law requires that police officers identify themselves whenever making an arrest and they should give reasons for the arrest. But how do you identify yourself in a balaclava?” Khalid added.

With the police’s rogue methods, it has been difficult to distinguish security agents from hired goons. The police have not seemed to seek such a distinction, given their apparent partnership during the current and previous protests.

Theirs is an unholy alliance of terror with no holds barred. They share a fervour for brutality and act on instructions from their masters - possibly common bosses - who loathe dissent.

Police officers have turned a blind eye as armed goons wreaked havoc during demonstrations. In plain sight, militiamen wielding crude weapons, such as clubs and batons, have patrolled several of Kenya’s towns unperturbed by police presence, intimidating other Kenyans against holding demos.

It has been the case in Nairobi, where a private security guard was captured on camera flogging a defenceless woman, as police officers watched unbothered.

Business owners, whose premises were invaded, have defended arming their guards to avoid losing property.

But even they have said that the police were mostly indifferent to their plight as they chose to watch them lose their livelihoods when they had all the power to act against criminals.

Certainly, politicians actively hire goons, as admitted by the president and recently by  Laikipia East Member of Parliament Mwangi Kiunjuri.

“The office that funded the protests is known by the government,” said Kiunjuri. He claimed that 25,000 hooligans had been procured by a senior government official during the June 25 protests.

While Ruto has promised action against goons he has accused of  destroying property, he has been silent about the consequences that await pro-government militiamen who openly threaten fellow citizens with crude weapons.

And they - rogue officers and pro-government thugs - will certainly get away with their actions. Many previously captured on camera terrorising the public and journalists - during the ongoing and last year’s protests - have walked away scot-free.

Some have suggested that the explanation is as simple as such persons are “deployed” by government functionaries.

“You think you know your government until it hires goons. One day, we see a tripartite: police, KDF, and boom—goons! This isn’t security; it is INSECURITY. Their pride has been busted and like the snake-bitten Adam, they try to hide by blaming the very citizens they have robbed!” Presbyterian clergyman Rev Edward Buri posted on X.

Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo reached that conclusion on Tuesday.  “Wondering quietly, what message does a State send when it deploys sponsored goons on the streets and deploys plateless cars with ununiformed officers?” Amollo posed.

Khalid responds that the message is that the government “is made up of goons”.

“Only a goon would believe in criminality,” said the activist, who argued that by hiring thugs to terrorise the people, the government exposed its disregard for constitutional principles and value for life and property.

Given Kenya’s history, such conclusions are not far-fetched. At the height of the opposition’s anti-government protests last year, National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah seemingly threatened the invasion of properties belonging to former President Uhuru Kenyatta, who he accused of funding the demos.

Indeed, the threats were followed up by action, with goons invading the Kenyattas’ Northlands farm, stealing livestock and causing destruction to a section of the farm. Business premises belonging to ODM leader Raila Odinga were also vandalised on the same day.

In both incidents, the police gave the goons a free run, ignoring distressed calls. Promises to investigate the cases have gone cold, with little action expected as it was probably a State-sanctioned hatchet job.

Before then, former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko had admitted how the government would deploy goons to opposition protests to malign them. 

“During the ODM demonstrations in 2017, I... and other members of the deep state, printed ODM t-shirts and procured second-hand vehicles and burnt them down along Ngong’ Road so that everyone would think it was ODM (burning them down), but it the system doing that,” said Sonko.

ODM hooligans

Raila, too, is familiar with goons. Days ago, he was apologising to his partners within Azimio la-Umoja One Kenya and the media for their ordeal in the hands of goons.

As Wiper Leader Kalonzo Musyoka began reading Azimio’s resolution against partnering with Ruto, irate youths cut him short, insisting that everyone present must exit the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation.

“Baba must be respected,” some shouted as chairs flew from one end of the tent where the announcement was to be made to the other.

Some journalists were injured in the melee, which saw Kalonzo and other Azimio partners whisked away from the venue.

The former prime minister said his coalition would “take stock of the events and seal loopholes that led to the security breach”.

However, it is not the first time hooligans have disrupted the opposition’s affairs. Journalists have previously been injured at ODM meetings, with the infamous men-in-black incident of 2014 blighting the party’s legacy.

Many other parties have experienced hooliganism. In the thick of the power struggles within Uhuru’s Jubilee Party, two opposing factions would flex their might by the number of goons in their employ. 

There is a danger in the government dirtying its hands by engaging thugs to do their bidding, as argued lawyer Donald Kipkorir, who cited the Biblical Prophet Hosea’s warning against sowing the wind. “You Reap the Whirlwind! This Government is playing with fire.”

“There is a line a legitimate Government will never cross... Outsourcing national security to private militia and goons. They start enjoying power without responsibility or accountability. If the Police err, we have IPOA ( Independent Policing Oversight Authority),” Kipkorir posted on X.

“Private militia and goons answer to no one but those who paid them that are enabled by the system. When Haiti got its independence in 1804, the political class then used private militias and goons. They haven’t left the streets since 1804!” he added.

Mungiki terror

Musamali, the security analyst, concurred, warning that the goons would eventually take up a “life of their own”.

“Right now we have politicians feeding them. What happens when they stop? They will look for sustenance elsewhere and we will see an emergence of gangs. The Gen Zs won’t also be clobbered forever and they will resist. We will see mayhem,” said Musamali.

He pointed out Kenya’s history with the Mungiki, a criminal gang that has been used by politicians to terrorise Kenya for decades.

“The people in government are seeing this happen again but are turning a blind eye. When the Mungiki became a menace, we had to use a lot of force and resources to get rid of them,” added Musamali.

Many have concluded that the police’s actions come down to interference by political players in an institution that has only been independent on paper. 

Several reform efforts have done little to uproot the culture firmly grounded among the security agencies - a culture of subservience to the Executive, which uses it as a weapon to fight political wars.

A task force by former Chief Justice David Maraga proposes more reforms, although its recommendations mostly focus on welfare matters.

“The only institution that has completely refused to reform is the police. We have seen significant strides in other institutions such as the Judiciary,” said Khalid, the rights activist. “The police don’t follow the law. They follow the Executive.”

But Musamali argued that meaningful reforms would only come with political goodwill, arguing that the current leadership was more interested in clinging onto police control.

“The ship has already set sail and we cannot make corrections when it is in the deep waters. We need a clean start,” said Musamali, who highlighted the watering down of provisions that gave the National Police Service independence, such as the removal of the Inspector General’s security of tenure.

“The political elites have allowed the police to go rogue because they will eventually need them to return the favour as they are doing during the protests,” he added.