Two police officers' attempts to arrest a man for flouting the directive on wearing masks while in public backfired after angry Kenyans stepped in and stopped the arrest.
In a video seen by Kenyans.co.ke on Tuesday, April 28, the passersby and residents of Gumbe Road in Kisumu County hassled the officers who were manhandling the suspect to take him to custody.
According to the originator of the video who identified himself as Nelly Apollo, the plain-clothed police officers pounced on the suspect who was without a mask at the time.
Ironically, one of the police officers conducting the arrest didn't have masks as well, in effect igniting the wrath of the residents who caused a commotion outside one of the supermarkets in the area.
In the video, one of the officers who was visibly flustered was seen speaking to an individual on the phone while holding the suspect by the seat of his pants.
The other officer had the suspect chained to his hand as he tried to calm the rowdy crowd that was swelling by the minute, lamenting about the constant harassment from the security officers.
The shouts from the crowd forced the police officer on phone to pull out a mask and wear it even as the lamenting residents got braver and surrounded the offender, forcing the officer with the cuffs to uncuff him.
The crowd was castigating the police officers for harassing area residents and forcing them to follow instructions that they were not following.
The action by the residents of Gombe was received with acclaim from a section of Kenyans who accused the police of being the weak link in the fight against the pandemic.
They also congratulated the area residents for standing up against the officers without fear and forcing them to release the suspect and follow the law as was required of them.
The Ministry of Health issued a warning to Kenyans who would be found without masks while in public, as a measure against the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 41 signed by Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe on April 10, 2020, Kenyans found violating the Ministry of Health’s order should pay Ksh 20,000 fine or risk a jail term not exceeding six months.
Below is the Video.
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