Nation gone rogue: Police excesses during protests raise questions

Police on standby as Kibra residents protest on March 20, 2023. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

All parties in the escalating stand-off between the government and the opposition claim their actions have the backing of the law.

On Friday, President William Ruto said he was only interested in acting according to the Constitution. He has previously blasted the Raila Odinga-led opposition for seeking "extra-legal and extra-constitutional" means of airing his grievances, referring to Raila's bi-weekly demonstrations.

Raila, too, has consistently said the Azimio la Umoja-One Kenya coalition was invoking its constitutional right to hold demonstrations.

While the president has said he would respect constitutional tenets, actions by the police, who undoubtedly still take instructions from the Executive, show a disregard for Article 37 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to peaceful protests.

The police have outlawed the opposition's demonstrations, ignoring Azimio's notifications. Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, too, recently made a notice to that effect, against express constitutional provisions and has been faulted by stakeholders.

Last week, Amnesty International raised the alarm over Inspector General Japhet Koome's remarks, outlawing opposition protests.

"We are concerned by yesterday's statement by Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome that seeks to threaten protesters, criminalise and illegally ban all protests. We remind the IG he publicly swore an oath to uphold the Constitution and is obligated to respect, protect and fulfil all human rights, including the right to protest," the rights group said.

They faulted the force with which police have handled protesters. Indeed, the three past Azimio processions have been largely peaceful, with protesters mostly breaking into song and dance.

But police officers have consistently laid ambush on Azimio's leadership and their followers, dispersing them with tear gas and water cannon sprayers. There has also been evidence of the use of live bullets, some of which have killed protesters.

Outside the processions, police officers have indiscriminately hurled tear gas into residences as they repulse rioters. Children have been most affected, with a four-month-old infant dying in Mathare from poisonous fumes.

Journalists, too, have been targeted by police officers, who have assaulted and arrested some. On Thursday, three journalists were severely injured by police, who shot tear gas canisters directly at them. US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman condemned the attacks against journalists.

A police officer was also captured vandalising a press vehicle belonging to Azimio, firing tear gas into the vehicle, which had an occupant who was not captured retaliating in any way.

IG Koome on Friday praised police action against protesters, even as he remained silent on the brutality meted out to the public and journalists.

"We wish to state that all internationally accepted policing strategies and within the law will be used by all police officers to ensure our beautiful country remains safe," Koome said against evidence of police officers running riot.

Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said the media has been playing victim in the wake of the attacks on journalists.

Government officials, too, have been silent in the face of the glaring excesses by police officers, some seemingly endorsing their actions against the public.

Police brutality has been a perennial issue in Kenya, with former regimes unleashing the police on protesters, further employing callous acts such as enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings.

Acts of brutality have also led to deaths previously and it is clear how bad things can get. In 2017, six-month-old Baby Samantha Pendo died after she was shot by police officers who stormed their home during opposition protests.

Former Police Commissioner Maj Gen Hussein Ali was prosecuted in the International Criminal Case over crimes against humanity and killings conducted by the police in the 2007/08 post-election violence. Although his case was dismissed, it showed that no one is above the law.

Protesters are not blameless. Huge sections have been rowdy, injuring other Kenyans going about their businesses and looting private property. In Kisumu, rioters stoned a police officer, killing him.

A freelance journalist was attacked by a knife-wielding gang, who stole his camera during Azimio's protest in Kawangware.

In many ways, protesters have abused the provisions of Article 37, which demands peaceful picketing.

"The demonstrations are no longer peaceful. Goons have taken over," Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa said at a function in Kakamega on Sunday, April 2.

The aftermath of Thursday's demonstrations in Eastlands saw businesses vandalised and residents robbed.

This happened as the police stayed away, as they largely did as rival factions clashed in Kibra on Monday, destroying property that included a church, razed down, and a mosque.

The police also stayed away as hired goons attacked former President Uhuru Kenyatta's Northlands farm and Raila's East Africa Spectre company.

Amid all the tension, the opposing sides have kept temperatures high with inflammatory remarks, effectively shrinking the chances of a peaceful resolution. That is despite calls for sobriety from different quarters.

"The danger of the current situation is that everyone loses," said constitutional lawyer Bobby Mkangi. "We lose a very important facility of democracy and expression that is demonstrating and picketing because the police are not handling the demos in the right way. Pretend demonstrators are also taking advantage to run riot."

Mkangi said the acts by police and rioters were discouraging genuine protesters from taking part and could affect future demonstrations.

"We are looking at losses and the image going out there is that Nairobi is burning as life goes on in the larger part of the country. We must use institutions to debate these issues. There should be a trail from the opposition that shows that they have tried to have their issues resolved through institutions such as Parliament.

"It is never just about numbers. Green Movement parties control little in Parliaments worldwide but have made climate change the subject of the day," he added.

Signs of a nation going rogue are also manifest in the government's disregard of a court order that stopped Chief Administrative Secretaries from assuming office until a court case challenging their appointment is heard and determined.