Senator Omtatah Demands Urgent Investigation Into The Kenya Police Unprofessionalism During Gen Z Protests
Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah has written to the National Police Service’s Internal Affairs Unit, demanding an investigation into alleged police excesses that resulted in the deaths and injuries of protesters.
In a letter dated July 29 and addressed to the Unit’s Director, Judy Lamet, the legislator requests that the investigations be completed within three weeks and the resulting report made public.
“I have a legitimate expectation that the Internal Affairs Unit will conduct the investigations professionally and without unreasonable delay, and finalise the exercise within 21 days from the date of this letter,” he said.
Omtatah claimed that police violence claimed the lives of at least 64 Kenyans during the Gen Z-led anti-tax protests that began on June 18.
He said the brute force used by police against demonstrators was uncalled for because even bystanders, medical staff wearing branded attire, and the media were not spared.
Omtatah stated that Section 13 of the Prevention of Torture Act, 2022, mandates the Internal Affairs Unit to investigate police officers for alleged excesses.
“I’m aggrieved that in spite of its all-important mandate and the deafening outcry on how the police have and continue their misconduct during the demonstrations, the Internal Affairs Unit has not investigated these police excesses,” Omtatah said.
The government has repeatedly admitted that some of the protesters who died during the demonstrations against the Finance Bill, 2024, were killed by police.
On July 16, the state-sponsored Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) reported at least 50 deaths and 413 injuries.
President William Ruto put the figure at six on June 26, then 24 on Sunday during a town hall meeting with Mombasa residents, and now the known number of dead is 42.
Puzzle Of Unidentified Bodies:
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) July 29, 2024
50 unidentified bodies lying at City Mortuary
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President Ruto vowed action on police excesses… pic.twitter.com/eQD6NlRJDr
“They should not have died, some of them in situations where the police were involved and others in situations where criminals were involved. All those situations are under investigation,” Ruto said.
The President reiterated that there will be no more extra-judicial killings under his watch, and he challenged anyone with a missing loved one who believes they have been abducted by state agencies to come forward.
“I gave my undertakings to the country that there will be no disappearance of Kenyans,” said Ruto
“There was a time we had over 30 bodies of Kenyans in rivers, that will never happen under my watch. If there is any Kenyan who has disappeared, I want people to step forward and say so and so has disappeared, I will be very happy to deal with it.”
On July 23, DPP Renson Ingonga stated in an update on investigations into the alleged police shooting of protesters that no officer has yet been found culpable.
He stated that his office received files from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) on only four victims of the alleged police shootings, but the investigations are inconclusive because no witnesses have come forward to provide statements.
He said two of the files are about the alleged shooting deaths of Rex Masai and Evans Kiratu Karobia.
In his letter, Omtatah presented a list of questions to the NPS’s Internal Affairs Unit, claiming that Kenyans want answers.
“We need to know how the police operation was planned and conducted,” read Omtatah’s statement.
“Was there a clear command and control structure coordinating police operations during the demonstrations? Was there a central command?”
He stated that Kenyans have the right to know whether the alleged police excesses perpetrated against them while exercising their constitutionally protected right to protest were premeditated.
“Kenyans should know how armed men in civilian clothing, mostly hooded, joined the uniformed police units deployed to deal with the demonstrators. How many police officers were issued with live bullets and has the ammunition been accounted for?” Omtatah questioned.
Senator Omtatah Demands Urgent Investigation Into The Kenya Police Unprofessionalism During Gen Z Protests
