Calls to give IPOA arresting power amid crackdown on police violence

Pressure is mounting on the government’s response to the growing cases of violence and extra-judicial killings by members of the police force.

This is in the wake of Tuesday’s shooting of an unarmed street vendor, Boniface Kariuki, in Nairobi during demonstrations over the June 8 death of blogger and schoolteacher Albert Ojwang in police custody.

In a Thursday interview with NTV, Amnesty International Kenya’s executive director Irũngũ Houghton said the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), the state-funded police watchdog, should be given the power to arrest officers accused of misconduct.

“We want to see IPOA have the capacity to arrest officers. Up to now, they still cannot do that and it is why in Ojwang’s case, they had to go with the Internal Affairs Unit officers to effect the arrest,” Houghton said.

He called for the expansion of the watchdog’s mandate to cover other forces beyond the Kenya Police Service, such as the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), whose officers have repeatedly been criticised for killing civilians.

“They also need to expand their jurisdiction so that their mandate covers Kenya Wildlife Service officers, KFS and the Kenya Defence Forces because they are still doing policing duties. Who is oversighting them in this role they were given last year?” Houghton said, referring to the deployment of military officers to tackle protesters during last year’s anti-government demonstrations.

Kariuki, 22, was shot in the head by a balaclava-wearing police officer at close range and left for dead. His father, John Kariuki, told journalists that he underwent surgery and was in critical condition at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

Police said an officer had been arrested in connection with the shooting.

On Tuesday, protesters called for the resignation and prosecution of Deputy Inspector-General of Police Eliud Lagat, after his “stepping aside” to pave the way for investigations into Ojwang’s killing.

The teacher died at Nairobi’s Central Police Station after he was arrested in Homa Bay over alleged publication of derogatory social media posts targeting Lagat.

Police initially claimed he died of self-inflicted wounds, but an autopsy found that he likely died after being assaulted. Two policemen have since been arrested over the death.

“It is beyond changing the individuals in these positions… the behaviour of police must change to reverse the culture of enforced disappearances and killings,” Houghton said on Thursday, condemning what he sees as criminalisation of the right to protest and freedom of expression.