IPOA commissioner John Waiganjo announced on Wednesday that the authority is pursuing the arrest of acting Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei due to concerns over the unprofessional conduct of police officers during recent nationwide protests.
The authority is particularly troubled by the manner in which officers engaged with protesters over the past four weeks. Waiganjo stated that IPOA is now taking steps to escalate the issue to the Judiciary for further action.
“We are very frustrated when we do not get information from the police commanders,” he said speaking on Citizen TV’s Daybreak show.
“That is why we are calling out the Nairobi police commander Adamson Bungei, the acting IG and we are saying that if we are not going to get this information we are going to petition the court to issue a warrant for their arrest because they carry the biggest responsibility.”
Waiganjo stated that IPOA has been closely monitoring the equipment used by officers to engage with both peaceful demonstrators and individuals causing disturbances, such as live ammunition and potent tear gas.
He expressed concern over officers concealing their identities by covering their faces and obscuring their names and badges, suggesting this behavior indicates questionable intentions when deployed on the streets.
“It is clear that the police are breaking the law. We are suspecting that there is a specific unit that is being sent out there apart from the ordinary deployment to go and commit atrocities,” he said.
“We have monitored the tooling of the officers, we have seen the substances that they are using, we know that they are not well prepared, they are using live bullets and you saw instead of using water canons they are using some other substance which we have also sought to be provided with.”
Mr. Waiganjo added that IPOA has submitted four comprehensive files to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) containing solid evidence to hold accountable those responsible for the killings. However, he clarified that investigations into the death of Rex Masai, the first protester shot dead by police, are still ongoing.
“We have so far forward four files to the ODPP, Rex’s is not there, because we do not want to do a shoddy job. The matter is still not escalated to court,” he noted.
Following Tuesday’s anti-government demonstrations, the death toll of Kenyans who lost their lives during the protests has risen to 50, according to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), attributing all fatalities to the use of excessive force by the police. The commission also reported 82 additional injuries, bringing the total to 574, and noted 77 more arrests, totaling 1,201 since the protests commenced.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior and National Administration has announced its recommendation to establish the office of the Coroner General to investigate deaths, including those resulting from police actions.
