Protests erupted in Nairobi just three days after police watchdog, Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) affirmed that police officers were involved in the killing of at least 15 people since authorities imposed a coronavirus curfew in late March.
Some 200 protesters from Mathare slums staged a demonstration against police brutality and demanded justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings.
The protest was mostly composed of young people and mothers who carried signs with the names of friends, neighbours and sons killed in police operations in recent years.
"I am here to protest for our youth who have died in the hands of the police without any wrongdoings and we are saying enough is enough. As mothers, many of our youths have been killed while being labeled as thieves," Mathare resident Rahma Wako said.
Others held placards reading slogans such as: "Our life is priceless", "Save our future" and "Never again".
Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has reported that it had received 87 complaints against police since the dusk-to-dawn curfew and heightened security measures were imposed on March 27.
"Some 15 deaths and 31 incidents where victims sustained injuries have been directly linked to actions of police officers during the curfew enforcement", it said.
Human Rights defenders have been working on a number of strategies to help fight police brutality in the country.
The Law Society of Kenya has since come up with legal mechanism tailormade for those who have been assaulted by the police.
The society shared a mobile phone contact with a statement reading, "Are you a victim of a witness? Call Law Society of Kenya on a toll-free line, 0800 720546, to report all cases of Human Rights violations."
The statement also read, "together let us stop all human rights violations."
In recent days, cities around the world have seen enormous protests against police brutality and racism following the killing of another Black man in the United States, George Floyd, at the hands of white officers.
Activists in Kenya have taken to social media to draw parallels with the country's own scourge of police brutality, which typically goes unpunished.
