Court Orders Matiang'i to Make Changes to Curfew Rules

Justice Weldon Korir during a court appearance.
Justice Weldon Korir during a court appearance.
The Standard

High Court Judge Weldon Korirt has thrown the ball into governments court by declaring that the police should find better ways of implementing the dusk to dawn curfew as use of force is unconstitutional.

The judge gave incidences where the police were seen to use excessive force such as the killing of a 13-year-old boy in Mathare, Nairobi, and the beating up of Mombasa residents at the Likoni crossing channel on March 27, the first night of the curfew.

Law Society of Kenya(LSK) had moved to court seeking to have the curfew suspended after seeing the terror unleashed by the police towards the public.

The Supreme Court of Kenya. Thursday, February 20, 2020.
The Supreme Court of Kenya. Thursday, February 20, 2020.
Simon Kiragu

''This is a precautionary measure taken by the government to help combat the spread of coronavirus, regulations should be formulated and issued on top of what is there to help solve the underlying problems,'' declared Korir as he failed to suspend the curfew.

In the petition LSK wanted the court to declare lawyers and Independent Policing Oversight Authority(IPOA) as essential service providers.

Korir agreed with LSK's submission and gave the cabinet secretary of interior five days to comply with the ruling and have lawyers and IPOA included in the list of essential services providers exempted from the provisions of the curfew.

 LSK President Nelson Havi welcomed the ruling and agreed with it but also called on the Police Inspector-General to ensure that rogue police officers be interdicted and not transferred as the norm.

''We welcome the decision as the country is currently facing a pandemic and there is no any other better way to deal with it than imposing a curfew, but we appeal to the police to be custodians of the law as it is their responsibility and stop using unconstitutional means in dealing with the public,

''I will personally write to the Inspector-General to have the names of rogue police officers within the service, and see to that they are prosecuted and interdicted and not transferred to other stations.''

Since the curfew was declared 15 Kenyans have died in the hands of police officers than compared to 10 individuals who have succumbed to covid-19.

Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi during a past court session.
Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi during a past court session.
The Standard

 

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