Public pressure is mounting on the Kenyan government to strengthen oversight mechanisms over police conduct, following a series of violent incidents involving law enforcement officers.
The latest outcry comes in the wake of Tuesday’s shooting of 22-year-old Boniface Kariuki, an unarmed street vendor, during protests in Nairobi. Demonstrators were demanding justice for Albert Ojwang, a blogger and teacher who died in police custody on June 8.
Kariuki was reportedly shot at close range in the head by a police officer wearing a balaclava and left for dead. He later underwent emergency surgery and remains in critical condition at Kenyatta National Hospital. Police confirmed that one officer has been arrested in connection with the shooting.
The case has intensified scrutiny of police accountability and prompted renewed calls for reforms, including the empowerment of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), the state-funded body mandated to investigate police misconduct.
In a Thursday interview with NTV, Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irũngũ Houghton urged the government to expand IPOA’s powers, particularly its ability to arrest rogue officers without relying on other units.
“We want to see IPOA have the capacity to arrest officers. Up to now, they still cannot do that, and that’s why in Ojwang’s case, they had to work with the Internal Affairs Unit to make the arrest,” Houghton said.
He also called for IPOA’s jurisdiction to be extended to other armed agencies performing policing roles, including the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya Forest Service (KFS), and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF). These units, Houghton noted, have also been implicated in violent crackdowns but remain outside the purview of current oversight frameworks.
On Tuesday, protesters demanded the prosecution of Deputy Inspector-General of Police Eliud Lagat, who recently stepped aside to allow investigations into Ojwang’s death. Ojwang had been arrested in Homa Bay for allegedly publishing critical posts about Lagat before dying at Nairobi’s Central Police Station.
As anger over police brutality spreads, activists and rights groups say meaningful reform must include granting IPOA the tools it needs to hold perpetrators accountable, starting with the power to arrest.
Written By Rodney Mbua
