TO ALL MEDIA HOUSES
PRESS STATEMENT
MAY 3, 2019
VIOLENCE METED ON SECURITY OFFICERS IN THARAKA NITHI UNCALLED
FOR

Our attention has been drawn to media reports on the unfortunate violence that has been meted on administration and police officers in Kamaindi, Tharaka-Nithi County on Wednesday.

We condole with the families of the valiant officers.

We the Police Reforms Working Group – Kenya (PRWG -K) condemn in the strongest terms possible the turn of events witnessed early this week and that saw the gruesome murder of Kamaindi Location Chief Japheth Mayau Mukengu and subsequent killing of Chuka OCS Joshua Kinyua who had gone to the area to respond to the mob justice incident.

We call upon the National Police Service (NPS), the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to investigate the incident that also saw an alleged shooting to death of a resident by the police.

We know that security agencies have been deployed to the area to beef up security and to arrest persons who took part in the unfortunate killings. We call upon security personnel involved in the operations to work within the confines of the law.

In as much we as support the deployment, we tend to differ with the view of the Eastern Regional Commander Eunice Kihiko who purported to throw a blanket condemnation on the whole community rather than individual accountability. Her words might be misconstrued to mean a green-light for the security personnel to use unnecessary and excessive force on the locals.

We further call upon the locals in the area to cooperate with security personnel to share any relevant information concerning the incident as the police investigate the root cause.

We urge them to be calm and allow proper and legal channels to be followed in addressing challenges rather than taking the law into their own hands.
…………………………………ENDS…………………………………
Signed by:
 Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)
 Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
 International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ-K)
 International Commission of Jurists –Kenya (ICJ-K)
 Legal Resources Foundation (LRF)
 International Justice Mission (IJM)
 Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
 Rights Promotion and Protection Centre (RPP)
 Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya (FIDA-K)
 Coalition on Violence against Women (COVAW)
 National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (NCHRD)
 Kenyans For Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ)
 Usalama Reforms
 Amnesty International – Kenya
 Transparency International – Kenya
 Katiba Institute (KI)
 Peace Brigade International (PBI)
 Usalama Reforms
 The Institute for Social Accountability (TISA)