Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti was on Thursday overcome by emotion after listening to a woman narrate her encounters with police brutality.
He had visited Kayole estate in Nairobi accompanied by Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji for a community dialogue meeting held at Kayole Social Hall.
According to Nation, Kinoti was at one point seen head up, eyes shut, probably fighting to hold back tears, as a young woman with a baby clutched on her waist, broke down narrating how she had had two husbands gunned down by the notorious ‘Hessy wa Kayole’ within two years.
"I have listened and seen people cry here until my tears started to drip. I can equally be emotional,” Kinoti admitted.
Susan Muthoni's first husband, a construction worker, was shot dead by police officers in 2017 as he was returning home from work.
“I was 16 at the time, and my husband was coming home when I got a call telling me to find out if he was among those who had been shot by the police,” the mother of a two-year-old boy recounted.
Her second chance at love was taken away in a similar fashion on Christmas Eve of the same year. His bullet-riddled body was found at City Mortuary.
During the dialogue-themed forum attended by various human rights activists, the head of the DCI went on to reveal that he had witnessed killings carried out by Kenyan police officers.
Kinoti seemed agitated by the escalating cases of rogue officers executing suspects instead of arresting the perpetrators.
He vowed to crack down the errant officers and swore to stop at nothing to ensure justice will be served.
“I stand before God if myself or anybody who will ever cover for someone who has killed an innocent person, let God curse me. I am saying no one will ever cover for a police officer who kills under my watch," he affirmed.
DPP Haji also expressed his concerns and revealed that his office had set its sight on the infamous 'Hessy' group that has been exercising jungle law, with numerous alleged unlawful killings attributed to them.
"I will write to Inspector General Boinnet to investigate on the Hessy vigilante group," he asserted.
The mysterious social media user, claiming to be a plain-clothe police officer and going by the names Hessy wa Kayole, Hessy wa Dandora and Hessy wa Huruma, has been warning suspects, who often end up gunned down in cold blood.
