The national police service has been in the spotlight over the years for acts of rogue police officers accused of extra-judicial killings and brutality, especially on peaceful protesters.
However, they have never been left to their own devices especially after the formation of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) in 2011 with a mandate to check police excesses against civilians, including unlawful killings, inflicting serious injuries and gross misconduct among other ills
IPOA chairperson Anne Makori, spearheads the investigation of police misconduct, deaths and serious injuries caused by police.
She also leads the agency in monitoring, reviewing and auditing investigations and actions by the internal affairs unit of the police.
According to IPOA's website, Makori holds a Law Degree from the University of Nairobi, a postgraduate Diploma from the Kenya School of Law, a Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management and a Masters in Leadership. She is also a Certified Public Secretary, a Certified Professional Trainer and a Certified professional mediator.
She has vast experience in the areas of strategy development and implementation, company secretarial and implementation and legal and human resources.
She is a member of the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and is also actively involved in community service in the areas of education, literacy and language development for small and marginalized community groups as well as supporting Churches.
Makori was appointed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and assumed office in October 2018 alongside seven other officials as the second IPOA board since its inception in November 2011. The inaugural board left office on May 22, 2018, on the expiry of a six-year term, as dictated by law.
Makori described herself as a stickler to the rule of law in an interview with the Sunday Standard in September 2018.
"I stick to the rules, follow processes and watch out for the institutional good," she pronounced.
In November 2018, she successfully completed an IPOA investigation which saw two police officers convicted of murder. The High Court ruled that Constables Benjamin Kahindi Changawa and Stanley Okoti jointly and unlawfully killed Geoffrey Nyabuto Mogoi, Amos Okenye Makori and Administration Police Constable Joseph Obongo Onchuru.
The victims were shot dead on October 7, 2014, at a bar in Kangemi, Nairobi. IPOA launched investigations in order to unravel the circumstances that led to the deaths and to establish whether the Police Officers were justified in the use of their firearms.
A report by The Standard in August 2019, indicated that her agency had received 13,000 complaints lodged against police officers by the public. The complaints majorly involved harassment, with many delays in solving complex cases because it required forensic analysis. However, through the authority's commissioner Doreen Muthaura, she noted that IPOA proceedings have led to the conviction of six police officers over the seven years the authority has been in existence.
“The six convictions should be considered a great achievement, bearing in mind the slow judicial system in our country,” Muthaura said.
On Tuesday, November 12, Makori launched an investigation into police brutality against Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (Jkuat) students during a demonstration on Monday, November 11, 2019.
In a video that caused an uproar on social media, policemen were recorded brutally beating up a student with one officer going to the extent of stomping on the student's head. Three police officers were interdicted by the police force.
"IPOA assures Kenyans of utmost commitment to its mandate through undertaking independent, impartial and fair investigations," Makori assured in a press release.
