Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua on Tuesday visited Juja Police Officer Commanding Station (OCS) John Misoi, who was hospitalised after being shot with an arrow by suspected Chang’aa brewers during a raid on Easter Monday.
DP Gachagua, who was accompanied by Kiambu Senator Karungo wa Thang’wah and Juja MP George Koimburi during the visit at Avenue Hospital in Thika, Kiambu County, assured security officers involved in the crackdown that the government was fully behind them in the fight against illicit alcohol and drug abuse.
“These criminals must know that you can’t attack a police officer, and the police commander must move quickly to clean up this village, because this is impunity of the highest order and cannot be accepted, because these are officers whose job it is to protect life and property, now if you go and attack them it is an attack on the government, it cannot be allowed,” he said.
The DP also assured the officers that the recommendations of the Presidential Task Force on Police Reforms are being addressed and from July this year, officers will have better conditions of service.
The OCS is currently nursing arrow wounds to his knee after a police operation targeting illicit brews and drugs in Gachororo village in Juja sub-county turned violent on 31 March.
The officer sustained a wound to his right leg with an arrow lodged in his knee. Hospital director Dr Linet Karanja said they were able to remove the head of the arrow yesterday and that the patient was responding well to treatment and would be discharged on Wednesday.
One of the suspects arrested in the melee, Peter Karanja, appeared before Thika Chief Magistrate Philip Mutua, where the prosecution and the investigating officer, David Gacheru, requested that he be remanded in custody for 10 days to allow for completion of investigations.
While making the application, Gacheru told the court that the injured officer was yet to record a statement and that they were waiting for a medical report to fill in the P3 form.
Thika Chief Magistrate Philip Mutua granted the application, noting that the matter was of public interest as the officer was attacked in the line of duty. However, he noted that the suspect can be visited by his relatives or lawyers while in custody.
