Kenyan leaders and citizens are now pointing fingers at Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki and his KDF counterpart Aden Duale over inaction despite a rise in cases of fights between Kenya Police officers and soldiers from the Kenya Defence Forces.
In the latest fallout, a soldier reportedly stormed a police station, beat up police officers and set a prisoner free.
Separately, a video went viral on Saturday showing a contingent of military officers engaged in a scuffle with police officers at the Likoni Ferry.
In the last month, at least three incidents of fallout between KDF soldiers and the police have been recorded prompting a response from the communications department of both arms.
Kenyans are, however, concerned by the two CSs who they accuse of remaining mum despite the incidents showing signs of getting out of hand.
While sharing one of the incidents, former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko challenged the two cabinet secretaries to take charge and rein in on officers causing the commotion.
"It is getting ugly. Our very able CS Kindiki and CS Duale do something before it's too late," the former governor urged.
Controversial lawyer Miguna Miguna also chimed in explaining that the fallout is a result of decades-long systemic institutional chaos.
"A precipice to the abyss… Symptomatic of 60 years of systemic institutional chaos. This cannot be ignored, especially after the sudden and mysterious death of Kenya’s Chief Defence Forces (CDF)," he stated.
"Why are pockets of Kenya’s military leaving the barracks in uniform with guns to engage in public physical fights with members of Kenya’s police service whose mandate is civilian order?" Miguna questioned.
Kenyan citizens, on the other hand, were concerned that the fracas was derailing the officers from their duties of protecting civilian lives.
"Why are KDF and police alterations on the rise, especially with this new regime? Can't Kindiki and Duale ensure proper discipline and jurisprudence is observed?" Wondered Mwandungo Swaleh.
"This has become a trend both the Kenya police and armed forces should be disciplined. This is a bad show but I blame poor leadership," lamented another.
KDF Response
In the twin incidents that occurred on Saturday, the Kenya Defence Forces communications arm noted that investigations have already kicked off.
“This evening at the Likoni Ferry, KDF soldiers were involved in a scuffle that has been circulated through various social media mediums,” read the statement in part.
“To establish the circumstances leading to the incident, Military Police and requisite investigation agencies are currently handling the matter.”
A video clip that went around on Saturday showed five on-duty servicemen beat up police officers and security officers stationed at Likoni Ferry.
The other incident saw a KDF officer stationed at Garissa storm a police station at Rabai Sub-county, Kilifi County, and free a suspect who was his cousin.
Earlier, Police officers in Turkana arrested KDF soldiers who they accused of slapping and disarming a traffic police officer at a roadblock mid this month.
