This archive report was first published on 29 October 2021.
Kenya: Why Rogue Police Officers Are Getting Away With Murder ¶
Since its mandate began in June 2012, the Independent Policing and Oversight Authority (IPOA) has received 18,166 complaints against the police, but only 12 have resulted in convictions.
98 other cases, including dozens of murder cases, are still pending in court, with the wheels of justice grinding slowly.
According to trends from cases against the police, a pattern is emerging that, if not addressed, may lead to victims' families giving up on the search for justice and accepting a fate that empowers rogue officers to commit more crimes.
Delay tactics, cover-ups, witness murders, and intimidation of victims' families have made it increasingly difficult to successfully prosecute rogue police officers.
One such case is the murder of human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Joseph Mwenda, and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri in 2016. The case is still in court, five years later, with multiple adjournments and excuses from the defence team.
The victims' bodies were found in the Ol Donyo Sabuk river a week after their disappearance, and their prosecution has been dogged by incidents of suspects claiming to have fallen ill and multiple excuses by the defence team.
Some officers have admitted that the main reason for this is to prevent successful prosecution of the killers, as a successful murder case requires the victim's body to be found alongside the weapon used to kill them.
One police officer was quoted as saying, 'If someone disappeared, got killed and there's no body to prove that, how do you charge a suspect for murder? That is why these criminals kill in Nairobi and dump bodies hundreds of kilometres away in areas like Mt Kenya region, Maai Mahiu and Ol Donyo Sabuk, where relatives will not even think of searching for them.'
Between January and June this year, IPOA recorded 1,324 complaints against the police, including allegations of 105 deaths, serious injuries, and disappearances.
For its part, the Internal Affairs Unit has recorded 612 complaints against the police between January and August this year, out of which two had insufficient information to warrant action.
Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji noted that evidence tampering, intimidation of victims and witnesses, and interference with investigations are the main challenges during the prosecution of cases of human rights violations by police officers.
Mr Haji added that in some cases, a crime scene may be altered and evidence destroyed by the officers in an attempt to conceal their crime, leading to little or no evidence that can meet a prosecutorial threshold.
He noted that some victims are profiled and labelled as criminals to the community so as to prevent a reaction from the public, while in other cases, police prefer trumped-up charges against victims in a bid to conceal their crime.
Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai has directed the Internal Affairs Unit to investigate criminal cases and make recommendations for disciplinary and criminal actions, leading to parallel investigations by IPOA and IAU.
The IG has called on the two units to foster a closer working relationship in ending police excesses.
Head of Legal at Internal Affairs, Mr George Okal, noted that some cases are resolved through arbitration and some through the return of lost or stolen property to the victims by the police.
Mr Okal added that some delays at the ODPP lead to delays in arrests, and in one case, the suspect had already reconciled with the victim and offered monetary compensation, thus the case could not go forward.
Secretary of Public Prosecutions (SPP) Dorcas Oduor noted that not all cases can go to court.
Published on October 29, 2021
