This archive report was first published on 4 June 2020.
On June 4, 2020, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) announced that two Kenyan police officers would face murder charges over the deaths of civilians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the IPOA, Duncan Ndiema Ndiwa shot and killed 13-year-old Yassin Hussein Moyo while enforcing a curfew in Nairobi. The shooting occurred on the balcony of Moyo's home in a suburb of the capital city.
Lotugh Angórita was also accused of killing a teacher, Colleta Amondi Ouda, in Siaya county, western Kenya, while responding to a report of a burglary.
The IPOA named four other police officers who would be charged over an assault on a man in Garissa, in the east of the country.
Since the introduction of coronavirus measures on March 25, 2020, 15 people had been killed by police and 31 injured, according to the IPOA. The watchdog body had received 87 complaints from the public, including assaults resulting in serious injuries, robbery, inhuman treatment, and sexual assault.
Human rights groups have long complained about police brutality and impunity for officers involved in such incidents.
