Apart from the rampant allegations of corruption that follow the Kenyan
police wherever they go or operate, another disturbing feature that
accompanies the police is the police harassment. Police in Kenya are
said to be feared more than thieves and that is of the fact they always
harass innocent people going on with their lives.
The harassment that police normally do to innocent Kenyans are;
- Extortion
- Arbitrary arrests
- Fixing of crimes on innocent people
- Use of extreme force when arresting people
- Demanding bribes
A
lot of people have reported cases of harassment from the police who are
meant to protect the civilians but nothing has ever been done to
rectify the menace. A good example of police harassment is in
Eastleigh where the police were accused by residents of harassment. The
police operation was due to terrorist attacks on a restaurant in
Eastleigh. The police were accused by residence that they were demanding
bribes from people and business owners. Moreover the police were
arresting people for trivial reason like not carrying the Identification
Card. the operation in Eastleigh brought negative reviews on the police
force and it is even believed that more youths turned to radicalism
which was attributed to constant police harassment.
The following
video was made by an Activist by the name Boniface Mwangi highlighting
social injustice in Kenya and the extent of police brutality and
harassment.See video here
Really, well done points. ....And as at today, the situation is worse ...we definitely should expect the worst tomorrow....
ReplyDeletePolice harassment has been too common for as long as we can recall. In comparison to many other Police Service teams we see in developed nations, we have to admit we still have a really long way to go. From not so commendable living conditions to poor remuneration and inadequate equipment to combat crime while aiming to maintain Law and Order as they are mandated to, indeed it's been a tall order for our sevicemen to properly work.
ReplyDeleteNumerous cases of brutality, corruption, participation in serious crimes have dogged the Police service for far too long. A large number of Kenyans don't really trust the police, but mostly view them as "enemies" who can not be easily trusted. If some things would really change, like proper remuneration for our servicemen, provision of better equipment to combat crime, serious vetting of individuals who are eager to join the service and getting into the
service with the sole motive to serve, then we would be doing far much better as a country. But the current case we have, is a country admiring what other successful countries do, but can't strive to make changes, because the status quo favours their day to day questionable operations.