This archive report was first published on 9 May 2021.
On May 9, 2021, Inspector-General of Police Hilary Mutyambai directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to investigate a viral clip of a female police officer complaining of sexual harassment and discrimination by senior officers.
The female officer, attached to the Traffic Department in Mombasa County, had shared a video on social media lamenting unfair treatment and sexual harassment.
According to the video, the officer had been writing several resignation letters to the Inspector General of Police but they were being blocked. She pleaded with Mutyambai to allow her to resign from the service, claiming her seniors had mistreated her.
The officer also urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to disband the police service, citing corruption and lack of service delivery within the office.
“I have been writing several resignation letters to the Inspector General of Police but they are being blocked down here, I am tired of the service, I want to go do other things,” she said in the video.
She further stated, “There is no service, nothing is going on in these offices. They are full of corrupt [seniors], taking bribes and earning salaries at the same time.”
News about police suicides and attacks by police officers on colleagues and family members have been on the rise, with five police officers dying in murder-suicide situations within the first five days of January 2021.
