- Dozens of people were killed in the protests in the country.
- For instance, on June 25, Reagan Ouko and Caroline Shiramba were shot dead while Daniel Chimoita, Loise Mulefu and Joseph Mwanza were seriously injured in Kakamega County.
Image: DANIEL OGENDO/FILE
More than 50 police officers have been summoned by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) over the deaths, serious injuries and other unlawful acts allegedly committed during the Finance Bill 2024 demonstrations by Gen-Z and the Azimio protests of 2023.
Documents show more than 15 senior police commanders including the Bungoma County police commander Francis Kooli are among those directed to appear before the IPOA detectives from Tuesday, September 16 to Thursday, September 19, for grilling and statement recording.
IPOA is investigating dozens of cases linked to the protests.
Following the summons, the Kenya Police Service headquarters directed the officers to meet their respective legal officers Monday ahead of the appearance for briefing.
“Legal officers from this headquarters will meet with concerned officers at the Regional headquarters on September 16 for briefing prior to appearing at the Authority offices on the respective dates,” a letter signed by Elizabeth Marube on behalf of the Deputy Inspector General reads.
In the Western region, Commander Kooli and his Kakamega counterpart Lucy Kananu, the Bungoma South police commander Wilson Muraya and his Kakamega Central counterpart, the General Service Unit (GSU) officer in charge of the Kakamega State Lodge, and the officer in charge of the Akichelesit Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) are among the officers listed as persons of interest in the ongoing investigations.
IPOA on August 30 wrote to the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Kenya Police Service stating that they are finalizing independent investigations into the killings and injuries which occurred on diverse dates in the Western Region during the Gen-Z and Azimio demonstrations in 2024 and 2023 respectively.
“In the course of its investigations, the Authority has established that several police officers were involved during the said police operations that resulted in deaths and serious injuries among other crimes,” IPOA wrote.
Section 7(1) of the IPOA Act empowers the Authority to requisition and obtain documents and summon any serving or retired police officer to appear before it and to produce any document, thing or information that may be considered relevant to its investigations
“On this premise, the Authority requests your office to summon the following 21 police officers to appear before the Authority for interview and statement recording,” IPOA wrote to the police boss.
Already, senior officers from Nakuru and their juniors have been grilled over the same following the shooting of K24 TV journalist Catherine Wanjeri among other attacks.
Kananu, for example, is expected to furnish the detectives with certified copies of police operation orders for June 25, July 2, and July 23 plus all OB entries, all police signals, Arms Movement Registers, and the number of ammunition allocated to each officer.
Dozens of people were killed in the protests in the country.
For instance, on June 25, Reagan Ouko and Caroline Shiramba were shot dead while Daniel Chimoita, Loise Mulefu and Joseph Mwanza were seriously injured in Kakamega County.
In another case on July 23, Daniel Wanje and December Shivachi were fatally shot while seven others were seriously injured.
Police are also expected to provide a list of all registration numbers and identifications of all vehicles, motorcycles, and work tickets.
The Authority had earlier warned that senior police commanders will be also held criminally responsible if the ongoing investigations do not identify the individual officers involved in the shooting of protesters.
IPOA noted that the detectives were facing various challenges including non-cooperation by some police commanders, witness interference and threats and a general lack of credible witnesses.
In October 2022, for example, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for the first time in Kenya’s history explored the concept of command responsibility and directed that the 12 police commanders who served in Kisumu in 2017 be charged for the death of Baby Pendo.
The ODPP for the first time explored the concept of command responsibility and directed that the 12 police commanders who served in Kisumu in 2017 be charged for the death of Baby Pendo.
“The ODPP perused the proceedings and the judgement of the inquest and established that the attacks were committed by or under the authority of senior national police officers, who apart from the murder of Baby Pendo committed various offences such as torture rape and sexual violence,” the DPP said.