IG Kanja Risks Six Months Jail For Contempt Of Court
On Friday, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) filed a petition against Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, citing contempt of court.
In its petition, LSK accused the police chief of allegedly deploying masked and hooded officers to disrupt a peaceful procession of Kenyans preparing to present their grievances to the President’s Office on September 24.
According to the independent Institution, Kanja’s actions violated a court order issued in August requiring police officers to display their service numbers and remain identifiable at all times when dealing with individuals exercising their rights under Article 37.
Industrial Area DCIO Justus Imana in court to represent Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja. He says police are still looking for missing Wajir MCA Yussuf Ahmed. pic.twitter.com/3hDZC7l1OT
— Omwamba 🇰🇪 (@omwambaKE) September 27, 2024
LSK also claimed that the court ordered the police inspector general to ensure that when plainclothes officers are deployed, they do not hide or obscure their faces in any way that makes them difficult to identify or unidentifiable.
“The respondents have since violated these orders and continued to deploy unidentifiable, masked police officers and uniformed police officers with hidden concealed service numbers in disregard of the pronouncement of this Honourable Court specifically,” LSK noted.
In its petition, LSK accused the police IG of grossly violating Articles 10, 73, 159, and 244 of the Constitution by disobeying the court’s order dated August 14, 2024.
The petitioners asked the court to convict the police chief for contempt of court and sentence him to six months in prison under the law.
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“That the above sentence be and is hereby suspended if, within 14 days of the order, the police IG gives a written undertaking to comply with the order and guarantee a non-repetition of their disobedience of the court’s order of August 14, 2024,” stated the Law Society.
“That the orders sought ought to be granted to protect and preserve the dignity and process of this Honourable Court and further, it would be in the interest of justice and fairness if the said orders are granted.”
The move comes a day after a High Court in Nairobi summoned Douglas Kanja over the disappearance of Wajir Member of the County Assembly, who was reportedly abducted on September 13.
In its directive, the court ordered the police chief and the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Renson Ingonga to produce the MCA or appear before it on September 27 to explain the lawmaker’s location.
IG Kanja Risks Six Months Jail For Contempt Of Court
