IPOA says police killed 57 Kenyans during anti-Gov’t protests; majority in Kisumu

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) says 57 Kenyans died as a result of police brutality during the opposition-led anti-government rallies.

According to the authority, 30 of these deaths were recorded in Kisumu, 20 in Nairobi and one each from Kakamega and Nakuru counties.

During an appearance before the National Dialogue Committee on Wednesday, IPOA revealed that it had received several complaints touching on the conduct of Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome. saying it intends to act on the complaints soon.

The IPOA delegation also lamented alleged frustrations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

Dr. Walter Ogony, a Commissioner at the authority, said: “The challenge sometimes, and I have to bring it carefully, is when we want forensic analysis on the weapon that was used, we sometimes encounter bottlenecks because the lab is under the DCI who is under the NPS and the head is the IG....”

The authority said that between early July and the period within which the country experienced a ceasefire as protests ended, they had received 237 complaints involving 359 complainants, while others are still under investigation.

IPOA Chairperson Ann Makori noted: “We have increased the number of files that are with the DPP...we found about 60 files, we have moved to 170...we have 380 files lying at the DPP... in total we have forwarded more than 500 files.”

Commissioner Doreen Muthaura stated: “If the authority can be offered or issued with prosecutorial powers, it will be able to fast track its investigations, not just to punish police officers but to bring justice.”

The authority also downplayed the apparent undermining of its role by the IG where he referred to them as busy bodies saying they had their eye on the prize.

Ms. Muthaura stated: “The work that we do is very sensitive...we oversight a service that is allowed to use force, and therefore we think entrenching this entity in law will allow us to serve the people better and our recommendations will be taken seriously.”

Commissioner Waiganjo added: “Let the committee not be worried that the IG can make such a statement and get away with it. It’s important that you know that we have pending complaints against the IG himself.”