Police, led by Inspector General Japheth Koome, were unprepared for the anti-finance bill protests, insiders have disclosed.
Just one day after nationwide chaos erupted across 35 counties, it has become clear that the police had no comprehensive strategy to manage the demonstrations, exposing serious lapses in the security apparatus.
Tuesday's unrest saw angry Kenyans storm Parliament buildings, setting parts of the complex ablaze. Legislators were forced to seek refuge in Bunge Towers before being whisked to safety.
Protesters who breached the Parliament’s defences wreaked havoc, causing extensive damage to the August House. President William Ruto would later condemn the actions as ‘treasonous’.
Tragically, the protests resulted in the deaths of at least ten people, including a doctor who was aiding a gunshot victim and a journalist covering the National Assembly’s proceedings. Amnesty International reported 31 injuries, with 13 individuals sustaining bullet wounds.
Investigations by the Daily Nation revealed that by Saturday night, even after Inspector-General Koome and other security chiefs briefed President Ruto on the situation, the government had not devised a strategy to manage the protests.
Crucial meetings, typically convened by the Inspector General and his top commanders during crises, did not occur less than 24 hours before the protesters surged into the streets.
It has also been revealed that authorities are also struggling with the lack of clear leadership among the protesters. Despite attempts to suppress the marches, state operatives have yet to confirm suspicions, voiced by Government Spokesman Isaac Mwaura, of external funding for the demonstrators.
A source privy to the operations indicated that detainees would be released unconditionally. Another source attributed the failure to infiltrate and disrupt the protests to strained relations between the police and intelligence leadership.
“The National Police Service leadership and the MS are not aligned in handling the situation. The IG might not even know who is detained where,” the source stated. The Sunday Nation highlighted the confusion and internal crises undermining efforts to control the protests.
Insiders at Police Headquarters told the Daily Nation that Koome and his commanders lacked an operational manual for the protests. Crucial meetings that typically occur during crises were not convened less than 24 hours before the demonstrations began.
An outdated operation order from last year’s opposition-led anti-government protests in Nairobi was reportedly being used to manage the current unrest.
Koome refuted claims that the operation order was obsolete. “We have an order guiding this operation,” he asserted, adding that police would prevent protesters from accessing Parliament or other critical government offices. However, protesters stormed Parliament yesterday, setting part of the fortified building on fire. Police responded with lethal force, resulting in multiple fatalities. Mobs also targeted properties owned by MPs who supported the finance bill nationwide.
President Ruto, in his address to the nation on Tuesday evening, stated, “I hereby put on notice the planners, financiers, orchestrators, and abettors of violence and anarchy, that these security infrastructures established to protect our republic and its sovereignty, will be deployed to secure the country and restore normalcy.”
At the moment, Defence CS Aden Duale has directed the Kenya Defence Forces to aid police in managing the situation.
President Ruto assured Kenyans that his government would conduct extensive investigations into what happened and why police were overrun by protestors.
“The government will therefore uphold its constitutional mandate to secure our nation and its development and shall treat every threat to national security and the integrity of our state as an existential danger to our Republic. Accordingly, I assure Kenyans that we shall provide a full, effective and expeditious response to today's treasonous events,” stated Ruto.
