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Stop police killings
The confrontation between villagers and police in Narok County in which five people were killed and scores of others seriously injured on Monday is a terrible occurrence.
Indeed, this is yet another indictment of the police use of lethal force against civilians. The local people were protesting over a land dispute in the Transmara South region.
General Service Unit (GSU) officers reportedly gunned down the victims after they attempted to bar lands officials from accessing a disputed 6,800-acre parcel. In the ensuing chaos, two GSU officers were also shot with arrows.
The locals are said to have feared that more than 3,000 of them would be displaced. They barricaded roads. They have accused an unnamed top government official of eyeing the land.
But the police have just confirmed how trigger-happy they can be. The mob that confronted them with bows and arrows could have been subdued. If the officers were overwhelmed, they should have called for reinforcements instead of turning their guns on the people, causing severe injuries to even those who were not involved in the land row.
As highly trained personnel, the police are, no doubt, conversant with what their code of conduct states on the use of force only when their own lives are in grave danger.
The action of the villagers taking the law into their own hands and attacking the police was risky, dangerous and criminal. It should also be strongly condemned and any of the culprits still at large pursued, arrested and arraigned. However, the use of live bullets by the police against civilians is a horrible and despicable act.
The duty of the officers is to protect these people they have now turned their officially issued guns on. This incident is a frightening indication of a country descending into lawlessness and the rule of the jungle. The rule of law must prevail at all times.
