PS Omollo : We regret police action on femicide protesters

Police teargas activists during anti-femicide protests in Nairobi. [Collins Kweyu, Standard] 

Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo has expressed concern over chaos during the peaceful anti-femicide protests in Nairobi on Tuesday.

The PS said the violence meted out on unarmed protesters by police officers was unfortunate and unacceptable.

He acknowledged the importance of demonstrations on such issues as a way of sensitising Kenyans against femicide as well as marking the International Human Rights Day.

Omollo said those who will be found culpable will face the law. “I think yesterday’s events were unfortunate and happening on such an important day, shows the challenge we have around policing," he said.

“Of course, we have had a series of concerns across the country over the last few days on issues of femicide and for me it’s a question where we say things just didn’t go right. It is not something we would want to say that is acceptable. We have had conversations with the Inspector General of Police, and it is regrettable and something that should not have happened in the first place,” he added.

“It is something that we highly regret. We have the internal processes within the structure of police and what we expect is that anybody found culpable definitely has to be taken through the legal process and established protocols.”

Speaking on Citizen TV, on Wednesday, he said though the actions of the police may have initially been perceived as correctional seeking to enforce law and order, they got out of hand.

“You can look at it from a point where as a parent you are trying to punish your child but in the process, out of that enthusiasm you end up going overboard and become highly uncontrollable,” he said.

The remarks by the PS come at a time when the government is facing criticism from the public and human rights organisations over police action on anti-femicide protesters.

In a joint statement, Amnesty International Kenya, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), Human is My ID Alliance and the End Femicide KE Movement termed the incident a grave violation of human rights.