Footage of activist and photojournalist Boniface Mwangi confronting plainclothes police officers surfaced online on Wednesday, April 29.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke the Ukweli Party leader revealed that the incident involving the arrest of 4 men in Korogocho happened during a raid in which the police claimed to have apprehended them for failing to wear protective masks.
However, in the video, Mwangi questioned the validity of the arrest, going further to confront one of the officers whose face mask was strapped to his chin, a clear breach of how to properly wear the mask.
"You aren't even wearing your mask, do you think what you are doing is just?" Mwangi asked the arresting officer.
Children and residents in the slum area crowded around the officers while chanting 'this is not justice'.
On his part, the officer clad in a printed t-shirt, brown jacket and black pants maintained that the suspects were in clear violation of the mask rule.
"We found them without their masks on and we are here to enforce the law," he insisted.
Quizzed on whether it would make more sense to go after thugs and criminals known for villainous acts in the area, the officer claimed that one of the suspects was under arrest for a separate offence.
Upon arriving at the Korogocho Police Post, he further revealed that one of the suspects had been nabbed at a chang'aa den.
However, Mwangi questioned why the bar owner was not among the arrested suspects.
"If you really found him at a bar, how comes the bar owner is not here. Was he at the bar by himself?" he asked.
The officer simply ignored the question and went ahead to process the suspects, who were all in face masks.
One officer stationed at the precincts entry area took a quick temperature check of the suspects as well as Mwangi and his crew before they were allowed in.
On April 15, Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai, announced that the grace period for adjusting to regulations handed down by President Uhuru Kenyatta regarding taking prescribed precautionary measures to combat the spread of Covid-19 had expired.
He further announced that any violators would be arrested and taken to court.
“A person who commits an offence under these rules shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding Kshh20,000 or imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months or both,” he announced.
On March 31, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), issued a statement stating that three deaths allegedly caused by police enforcing the dusk-to-dawn curfew had been registered for investigation.
