Questions emerge over conduct of armed plainclothes officers during Azimio protests
A plainclothes policeman arrests a man in Mathare slum, Nairobi on July 19, 2023, during the demonstrations called by Azimio la Umoja over the high cost of living.
Civil society organisations are warning that Kenya is following a dangerous path taken by conflict-riddled countries through its use of gun-wielding plainclothes police officers to confront protestors and conduct raids.
As it responds to protests organised by the opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition, the National Police Service has stepped up its use of hordes of plainclothes officers to mingle with protestors before making arrests, patrol slums and seize those deemed to be voicing anti-government sentiments. There have also been allegations and videos circulating online on their use of live bullets.
For instance, on July 12, when uniformed officers were trying hard to contain protesters in Mlolongo on Mombasa Road, a squad of officers in cars that did not have number plates whizzed in from Nairobi. As soon as they arrived, eyewitnesses said they opened fire at the protesters. At least three people died on the spot. Such teams are called in by riot police whenever they appear to be overwhelmed by protestors.
Without protective gear, helmets or teargas canister launchers, their only tool of trade appears to be a loaded gun.
Some of them use cars with foreign number plates or no plates at all. They employ camouflage as a tactic. The Sunday Nation has learnt of officers who wore aprons to look like handcart pushers in Nairobi. Their assignment was to listen to conversations and arrest anyone who said anything “anti-government”.
Victims of these State agents have chilling stories to tell.
A number of organisations have called out the government for the deployment of such officers —with allegations that some belong to special squads — and the excessive use of force, even as top leaders of the Kenya Kwanza administration keeps praising the police for a job well done
Some of the bodies that have spoken out include the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Amnesty International-Kenya, Katiba Institute, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa), Haki Africa, Human Rights Watch, and the International Justice Mission-Kenya (IJM-K).
Haki Africa’s executive director Hussein Khalid told the Sunday Nation that the government’s actions are a cause for worry.
“Drawing comparisons to the use of plainclothes militia and officers by other governments … (it) is indeed a matter of concern. Kenya must uphold its commitment to human rights and avoid adopting tactics that undermine democratic principles and erode trust between law enforcement and citizens,” said Mr Khalid.
“Haki Africa calls for an independent and transparent investigation into the actions of plainclothes officers during protests. We also emphasise the need for improved oversight mechanisms to ensure accountability for any abuses committed during such events,” he added.
Mr Khalid noted that there are blurred lines as to under whose command the plainclothes officers are.
“The lack of clear accountability measures raises serious questions about their actions and decision-making processes during protests. We urge for greater transparency and oversight to ensure that these officers are held accountable for any misconduct or human rights violations,” said Mr Khalid.
KHRC officer Wanjiru Gikonyo, in a joint press briefing on Friday, raised concerns over the increasing use of non-uniformed officers mostly seen to use vehicles with either distorted or no number plates, bundling protestors into cars and speeding to unknown locations.
She said that between July 7 and 19, civil society organisations have reported 27 deaths from extra-judicial, summary and arbitrary executions.
Ms Gikonyo argued that while President William Ruto had promised to end the era of police killer squads, the recent unfolding events revealed that the security agencies have clear intentions to execute protestors.
“The five deaths in Mlolongo are a clear example of State-ordered executions. Out of the five, three had gunshots to the head and one gunshot wound on the chest at close range. These killings took place miles away from the expressway, where the main protests were ongoing,” said Ms Gikonyo.
She was flanked by other officials from Amnesty International Kenya, Katiba Institute among other lobbies.
The organisations accused the police of working with the suspected private militia to “attack and butcher” people in Dandora and Kibera in Nairobi, Mlolongo in Machakos and some areas in Kisumu and Migori, calling for urgent investigation and action from Ipoa and the Internal Affairs Unit.
The International Justice Mission-Kenya raised concern over the introduction of a “secret police squad” marked by plainclothes armed officers, using pistols and unmarked police cars, contrary to the recognised chain of command.
“We call for the immediate removal of clandestine police squads from enforcing response to demonstrations,” said IJM-K country director Benson Shamala. “Of greater concern is the introduction of a secret police squad, barely six months since the President’s disbandment of a similar unit accused of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.”
Other instances where the squads have recently been used are in Kibera and Kamukunji grounds, where plainclothes officers proliferated the fields.
Together with the Azimio protesters, they chanted anti-government slogans. As the crowd was building up, the plainclothes officers marked the group leaders. When enough were earmarked, the uniformed police fired teargas and in the haze, the protesters in the frontline were netted. At Jacaranda Grounds on Wednesday.
On July 18, Opposition leaders accused the government of reviving and properly resourcing “a killer squad” named Operation Support Unit, which is embedded to the official police service for “dirty work”.
“We know its members wear civilian clothes. They travel in groups of five from one ethnic community. They are heavily armed with lethal weapons,” read their statement.
“This is the group that killed people in Kamukunji, Mlolongo and Jogoo Road. They fired at people from unmarked green, black, grey, silver, red and white, mostly Subaru vehicles,” added the statement.
While addressing a press conference at Parliament Buildings on Thursday, Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang’ said that most of the special squads are based at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations and purport to fight certain specialised or organised crimes, but in the end, they become perpetrators of gross human right abuses like what has been witnessed in the past days.
“Not even at the height of the self-swearing-in of Raila Odinga did we witness such police brutalities,” said Mr Kajwang’.
However, the government says its work is above par.
In a statement yesterday, United Democratic Alliance (UDA) Secretary-General Cleophas Malala, on behalf of Kenya Kwanza, praised the police for “exercising great restraint”.
He noted that the police have been subjected to “obvious provocation by well-organised and well-funded saboteurs trying to bait them into excessive responses”.
“Our law enforcement heroes have not fallen to the bait even as several of their colleagues have lost lives and others suffered serious injuries at the hands of the opposition anarchists,” said Mr Malala.
Mr Malala’s statement was responding to earlier remarks by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, which faulted Kenya’s policing tactics in the face of the protests.
Plainclothes police officers arrest demonstrators in Nairobi on June 6,2023.
“The statement was made in the absence of a genuine, factual basis for its conclusions and was blind to the context within which the demonstrations took place,” Mr Malala said.
On Saturday, Ipoa, in a statement, said it was actively investigating the police conduct during the demonstrations. While equally condemning some members of the public for acts of lawlessness that had led to destruction of property and the injuring of the police, Ipoa Chairperson Anne Makori said the body was already doing thorough investigations
As that goes on, victims of the government’s actions continue to reel from the heavy-handedness.
Mr Ken Omondi, 35, is among at least 12 Migori residents admitted at the Migori County Referral Hospital with gunshot wounds after encountering plainclothes officers. The clinician is awaiting surgery, with a bullet lodged in his chest cavity.
Cases of shooting were also reported in Machakos County.
Additional reporting by Elvis Ondieki
