There have been 20 days in police custody over the last 15 days, according to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA).
The Authority has said since the demise of blogger Albert Ojwang at Central Police Station, Nairobi, the number of deaths reported in police custody stands at 20, raising fresh concerns.
IPOA chairperson Issack Hassan spoke at a briefing on Monday, June 23, said the pattern of deaths in police custody pointed to a deepening crisis and a lack of police accountability.
“Ojwang was killed on June 8, and it’s June 25. Already, we have more than 20 reported deaths in police custody,” Hassan said. “So already this raises an issue of police accountability.”
Ojwang’s passing caused national outrage, with civil rights groups piling pressure on the Director of Public Prosecutions and IPOA to bring those responsible to book.
As the case continues to drag on, IPOA has made several strides, as several persons of interest in the case, including senior police officers, have recorded statements with the authority.
However, amid a spate of deaths in police custody, IPOA also revealed that law enforcement was doing very little to report the incidents, while they are mandated by law to report such incidents.
“When the death of Ojwang was reported to IPOA… the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) has to notify IPOA. We’ve only received 25 per cent from police,” he added. “The rest have come from family, media and other people who have notified [the] press.”
“In fact, when I heard the signal from the Inspector General of Police saying Ojwang died after hitting his head against the wall, I told him he was insulting our intelligence.”
Since Ojwang’s death, Kenyans.co.ke has highlighted two separate incidents of deaths in police custody. One incident saw a stock theft suspect who had been held at the Katito Police Station in Kisumu lose his life in what law enforcers described as a suicide on June 14.
In a separate incident, a matatu conductor at the Machakos Bus Park believed to have been arrested by council officers ,is said to have died by suicide inside a police cell after his arrest. Miles away in Kawangware, a suspect also died in police custody after succumbing to injuries he sustained after an attack by an irate mob.
Meanwhile, the IPOA chair also addressed pressure from the public on why the suspects adversely mentioned in Ojwang’s case were yet to be charged, clarifying that the authority’s mandate was to investigate independently and submit findings to the relevant authorities for further action.
“We don’t have the power to charge,’ he clarified. “That is the work of the DPP. We can only put them in court to have them detained as we continue with investigations. As a matter of fact it is only today that a file will go to the DPP to initiate charges against some police officers (in Ojwang’s case)”.
