New report links police to deaths of 64 Kenyans in four months

Police at pass out parade at the Kenya Police College in Kiganjo, Nyeri County. [PHOTO: FILE/ STANDARD]

More than 60 people have been victims of alleged police killings in the first four months of this year.

The data, contained in a report by the Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) puts at 64, the number of cases the organisation has handled between January and April.

Of those killed, 53 were summarily executed, representing 83 per cent of the total number of cases, while 11 died in unclear circumstances.

Men accounted for the highest number of those allegedly executed by police, at 60, while women were four. March recorded the highest number of such killings at 31, followed by April (17), February (11) and January (5).

The number of killings attributed to the police in the first four months of the year is slightly over half of the total number of cases recorded in 2015, at 126. Of this number, 97 were summarily executed, 20 were shot to protect life and nine people were shot by the police in unclear circumstances.

A comparison of data between January and April 2015 and a similar period in 2016, shows a reduction in the number of alleged police executions in the first month of the year, which then rises between February and March.

IMLU, a non governmental organisation that monitors police conduct through reports submitted by victims, its network of monitors, as well as monitoring the print and electronic media, says the past two years have recorded an increase in the use of lethal force, by the police, leading to ‘extra judicial killings’.

Says the report in part: “These statistics put into question the commitment of the National Police Service to the respect of the right to life prescribed under Article 26 of the Constitution and the assumption of innocent until proven guilty by an impartial judicial process.”

“Of concern is that the continued misuse of firearms by police officers is against the sixth schedule of the National Police Service Act that provides guidelines for use of force and firearms.”

The revelations come hot on the heels of the killings of a human rights lawyer, his client and a taxi driver that have been linked to Administration Police officers.

The bodies of International Justice Mission(IJM) lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda, and driver Joseph Muiruri were last month found dumped in the Ol Donyo Sabuk river, days after they disappeared from the Mavoko Law Courts.

Abducted

The three are believed to have been abducted after attending a hearing where Mwenda had sued an Administration Police officer for assault. Four officers have been charged over the murders.
In the four months reviewed by IMLU, Nairobi County tops in the number of police killings, recording 31 victims.

Machakos County has five followed by Mombasa and Migori counties, with four each. Nakuru County has three cases while Nyandarua, Kakamega, and Siaya Counties each have two. Tana River,Meru, Isiolo, Kisii, Kitui, Kilifi, Vihiga, Embu, Bomet and Kisumu counties have each recorded one case.

Data covering January to December 2015, shows Nairobi County leading in the cases of alleged police killings IMLU handled, at 61. It was followed by Nakuru, with seven cases, Isiolo six and Kirinyaga five. Turkana, Mombasa, Kwale, Kilifi and Homabay counties recorded four cases each. The total number of cases documented by IMLU in 2014 was 34. At least five cases of the total number documented in 2015 were attributed to Kenya Wildlife Service officers.

The Police Service has however reacted sharply to the findings, with Spokesman Charles Owino challenging IMLU to use avenues provided by law to substantiate the claims.

“The police force does not work in a vacuum. IMLU can liase with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa), a civilian body with powers to investigate police misconduct. If Ipoa has evidence on a matter it forwards it to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions which then determines whether an officer should be charged. Should a witness need protection, then we also have an agency that handles that,” says Mr Owino.

He also takes issue with use of the term éxtra judicial killings’, saying such labels only serve to reinforce negative perceptions, by the public, of the force.

“When you talk about extra judicial killings you are referring to some sort of institutional, organised killings undertaken by the police. But this is not the case because nowhere have we sat down as a Force and planned this,” he says.

Ipoa Chief Executive Officer Joel Mabonga says they have an amicable working relationship with IMLU, but is not privy to information on the 64 cases recorded in the first four months of 2016.

IMLU is now calling on the Inspector General of Police, Ipoa, the Internal Affairs Unit and the National Police Service Commission to enhance mechanisms that will end the indiscriminate executions of people without due process of the law.