To Kenyans, police officers are the enemy within Updated Wednesday,
October 2nd 2013 at 19:04 GMT +3
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GLANCE FACTS
* *
*In reviewing the state of preparedness of the police to combat insecurity
and other forms of emerging security challenges occasioned by national and
international threats, the task force concluded that the police are
ill-prepared. — Justice
Philip Ransley*
*A report by a state agency indicates that members of the public still fear
to report when police officers violate the law. Our writer JECKONIA OTIENO
unravels these fears*
Four armed men walked into Kristensen Jan’s home in Kisumu in broad
daylight. They then strangled the 73-year–old Norwegian missionary before
they were gunned down by police. It later emerged that some of these
outlaws who had been shot at the crime scene were police officers.
Nyanza Regional Coordinator Francis Mutie confirmed that these were indeed
Administration Police officers but insisted that they were not under his
command. They had, he said, been deployed to the region from Nairobi.
Not much later, a state agency, the Independent Policing Oversight
Authority (IPOA), released a survey which indicated that one in every three
people interviewed during a survey on police services had been victims of
police malpractice — like assault, brutality, falsification of evidence,
bribery and threat of imprisonment.
Not only were these violations noted within the last 12 months, the
Baseline Survey on Policing Standards and Gaps in
Kenya<http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>indicated
that misconduct by police is more prevalent in rural areas than
in urban settings. The fact that prevalence of police brutality in rural
areas was more than double the rate reported in towns and cities spawns
from public fear of police officers. The fear is particularly acute among
women are two times less likely to report cases of code of conduct
violations compared to men.
James Kamau, a matatu conductor in Nairobi, says his deep-seated fear of
the police would dissuade him from reporting when police officers violate
the law. The survey corroborated such claims and reported that younger
people were often the target of police brutality.
“The incidences of police violations is higher among younger people aged
less than 35 with about three out of every five having experienced
violations, while only 34 per cent of people above 35 having been violated.”
But it is not all gloom — three quarters of those interviewed, especially
the youth, have grown more confident and will be more willing to report
police misconduct in future.
Our attempts to get police reactions to these findings were in vain — calls
and text messages to both the Inspector General of Police, David Kimaiyo
and Police Spokesperson, Gatiria Mboroki went unanswered.
Nevertheless, the Baseline Survey on Policing Standards and Gaps in
Kenya<http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>,
was able to provide some insight into the thinking of members of the police
service. It says most officers who have watched misconduct like bribery,
excessive use of force, unwarranted shooting and threats of imprisonment do
nothing about it.
About 37 per cent do nothing because they believe corruption is so
pervasive that nothing can be done, while 15 per cent of the juniors keep
mum for fear of reprisals.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority notes in this survey it
released recently that 55 per cent of officers believe services will
improve once the issue of poor pay is addressed, while for 24 per cent of
the respondents, the provision of modern equipment to fight crime and
better housing would contribute significantly to better service delivery.
Fear of the police officers is a great miscarriage of justice. The
extra-judicial killings of members of the outlawed group Mungiki triggered
public protests and ultimately led the setting up of an ad hoc commission
to put focus on the development of structures to facilitate police
reforms. Part of the reforms, also instigated by the role the police
played to exacerbate the violence after the 2007 General Elections,
involved boosting the capacity of law enforcement agencies to discharge
their duties. An interim report by the National Taskforce on Police Reforms
headed by Justice Phillip Ransley noted that the number of police officers
increased significantly between 2005 and 2009. In 2005, the
Kenya<http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>National
Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) recorded that there were 32,901
regular police officers and 19,056 Administration Police (AP) officers.
By 2009, the number of both categories of officers had increased
significantly with the AP numbers rising by 65 per cent even as the number
of regular police increased by 29 per cent. Government projections by a
state agency, the
Kenya<http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>National
Bureau of Statistics, indicated that 43,614 APs would be in the
force by 2011 to boost the number of regular police. Police spokesperson
Gatiria Mboroki told The Standard this week that they have 42,000 regular
police officers in the service, which would hypothetically put the ratio of
police to the public at one officer for every 455 people.
Even with this increase it must not be lost that the population of
Kenya<http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>has
been correspondingly increasing, thus maintaining what is essentially
the status quo.
In 2003 the police-to-citizen ratio stood at one officer to 676 people. By
2009 the ratio had reduced, albeit slightly to one officer to 533 people.
The United Nations recommends that there should be 220 police officers for
every 100,000 people; this translates to one officer for every 454
Kenya<http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>ns,
a benchmark that the government is still struggling to achieve.
Kenya <http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>’s
situation is further aggravated by the high dignitaries who require police
protection, thus taking away a good number of officers who would otherwise
be on the beat providing security to citizens. Even before the taskforce
wound up its operations and handed its report to former president Mwai
Kibaki, its members had proposed that some of the 5,000 officers assigned
to provide dignitaries with protection be reassigned.
The number of those needing police protection has more than doubled with
the adoption of the devolved system of government that has substantially
increased the number of elected leaders.
With an overstretched, overworked and underpaid police service, apathy and
corruption is a natural consequence. The case in which Joshua Waiganjo has
been charged with impersonating police officers raises serious questions
about the involvement of criminal elements in the police force.
Shortly after Waiganjo’s arrest some senior police officers were
interdicted after more than 40 police officers were ambushed and killed in
Suguta Valley under suspicious circumstances.
Despite these challenges,
Kenya<http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>still
has the lowest crime record in the region and its East African
neighbours have fared less favourably.
The European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, International
Statistics on Crime and Justice, 2011 notes that
Kenya<http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>had
an assault rate of 35.9 while Uganda reported a rate of 92.7.
The UN office on Drugs and Crime, 2004 puts
Kenya<http://standardmedia.co.ke/?searchtext=Kenya&searchbutton=SEARCH>at
a murder index per 100,000 of 20.8 compared to Uganda’s 25.2;
Tanzania’s
26.1 and Rwanda’s 26.6. The police service’s failure to perform has been a
topic of debate with resurgent crime in towns across the country. The
Ransley Report underscored
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