Chief Justice Martha Koome has advised the National Police Service (NPS) to come up with a policy that will guide the process of arresting someone.
Speaking on Thursday, July 25, the CJ acknowledged that many Kenyans had raised concern over the conduct of the police during the protest with some individuals abducted in the process.
Therefore, the CJ opined that a policy would be necessary to ensure that all arrests are done within the confines of the law.
In particular, she insisted that arrests needed to be informed with justifiable reasons such as an offence.
On the other hand, she underpinned that all arrested persons ought to be treated humanely even as the right to life is preserved.
"When we arrest, we must have a reason why we are arresting somebody. We have been saying, that the same way the ODPP has a policy to charge, it is perhaps time the NPS also establishes a policy on the decision to charge. It is not whimsical.
"There should be a cognisant offence that has been committed and when we are arresting, we must preserve life because every life matters and it must be brought through due process," the CJ advised.
Further, the CJ expressed that many Kenyans had questioned her silence during the protests, explaining the role of the Judiciary and its officers in the conflict between the protesters and the police.
"Many times I have been called upon by people asking where I am as people are dying, being abducted and kidnapped. I am like look, in the judiciary, we sit and wait. We do not descend into the arena of the disputes. We cannot go to the streets where others can go but we can state the law and say what the constitution says," she explained.
The conduct of the police during the protests has been in the spotlight owing to the manners of arrests enforced by some plain-clothed officers.
In some instances, especially during the start of the protests, plainclothed officers arrested individuals and held them incommunicado.
In one scenario, veteran journalist Macharia Gaitho was abducted by detectives while at the Karen Police Station. According to Gaitho, the individuals did not identify themselves.
Gaitho was released minutes later with the National Police Service (NPS) issuing an apology after the incident.
"The National Police Service would like to clarify to the public that this morning, we arrested journalist Macharia Gaitho in a case of mistaken identity, meant for the arrest of Francis Gaitho who is our subject of investigation.
"We reiterate that as a Service, we do not target journalists in any way, and today's incident is highly regrettable," the police apologised.
