Police officers used extra constitutional means against March protesters – MP Mbui
Friday, 21st April 2023
Police officers resorted to using unconstitutional means against protesters to disperse opposition protests held last month, according to Kathiani Constituency MP Robert Mbui.
Mbui made the remarks in a Tuesday interview with Citizen TV, where he gave his Azimio La Umoja Coalitions reasons for including the Inspector General of Police, Japhet Koome, in the list sent to the International Criminal Court for prosecution for crimes against humanity.
Mbui said the National Police Service planted plain cloth police officers in the demonstrations to employ extra-Constituitional means against civilians.
He gave an example where he alleged a journalist’s rib was broken by police officers in Kisumu.
“We had police officers in plain clothes who were there to target people,” said Mbui.
“I have a journalist friend in Kisumu called Nabiswa who was beaten and injured and hospitalized – infact they broke one of his ribs – by a plain cloth policeman, and then the turned around and said those were goons,” the legislator added.
Human rights groups and activists were loud in their condemnation of the police excesses that were witnessed in the protests.
Three people were shot dead by police officers.
There were also reports of police brutality, where officers were accused of physically assaulting protesters and journalists covering the protests.
One officer was caught on camera vandalizing a vehicle that was ferrying journalists before shooting a teargas cannister directly at the vehicle’s occupants.
Police IG Koome said a probe had been launched against the officer, but no update has been made public since then.
Missing Voices Coalition remains attentive to the quest for justice for the victims of police killings and brutality witnessed in March.
We continue asking the government and the relevant judicial agencies to fast-track the search for justice by holding the rogue officers to account.
Deterring police excesses can only be achieved by bringing rogue officers to book and prosecuting them.
