The National Police Service has been accused of causing the death of a 22-year-old South Sudanese refugee who was beaten up for violating the dusk-to-dawn curfew.
The refugee from Kakuma Refugee Camp, Turkana County, passed away while receiving treatment in a hospital on Sunday, 26 April.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Rift Valley Regional Police Commander Marcus Ocholla noted that an investigation of the incident was underway.
"The other time the fellow was due to appear before court, a postmoterm has been carried out, the DCIO has opened an inquiry we are just waiting for the report to be complete.
"The inquiry that has has been opened is to confirm if the police could have been involved or it was a fight among themselves. We have had several fights in the past between the warring sub-tribes in South Sudan," said the commander.
In an interview with Hot in Juba, a youth leader in the refugee camp who sought anonymity revealed the incident that led to the death of the South Sudanese.
"It’s tragic, he was severely beaten on Saturday [April 25] and died this evening (Sunday) – this is the situation we have been facing in the camp, they come and kill you with impunity and no one takes measures against them," he claimed.
The youth leader added that the name of the deceased refugee was withheld due to the sensitive nature of the issue.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, UNHCR Communications Officer Eujin Byun shared more details about the death of the refugee.
"We released a statement last night there is an ongoing investigation on that specific incident so we are also waiting for the police investigation. We cannot speculate any information until the police investigation is complete."
When asked about the police being faulted for the death of the refugee, Eujin stated that the refugee agency was still awaiting the police investigation to ascertain the circumstances that led to the death.
"I'm hesitant to give a comment on this because if there is a police investigation we will also need to follow the police investigation to clarify the rumours," stated Byun.
