The Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai has issued new orders that will bar police officers from implementing or supervising eviction orders without a two-tier approval process.
While appearing before Senate Devolution Committee on Wednesday, April 6, the police boss indicated that officers will have to seek clearance from his office before implementing any eviction orders by courts.
Mutyambai had been summoned before the lawmakers over a land dispute in Nairobi's Pumwani Estate.
The IG added that his office will also collaborate with the office of the Attorney General to verify the authenticity of court orders given the uproar among Kenyans over illegal evictions.
"Court orders for evictions and demolition will have to come to me first after which I will do further consultation with the Office of Attorney General, who will then authenticate them with me. This is to make sure all the requirements of the law are observed,” he stated.
The directive was made after concerns raised by Parliament over the eviction of Nairobi Water employees residing in Pumwani - which was allegedly done without a valid legal notice.
“Since we started this investigation no one has been able to show us the notice served to the parties concerned. We don’t want a back and forth. We believe the police should be a service, not a force to oppress the people," Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang stated.
However, Mutyambai defended his juniors, stating that they only follow orders that are issued by the courts.
“Police don’t carry out evictions, we do exactly what is directed in the court orders after we verify. The police only deal with criminal cases but when it comes to civil issues, we only deal with them under court orders,” he explained.
The police boss was also hard-pressed to explain why he failed to attend earlier summons that were issued by the Senate committee. Mutyambai stated that there was a mix-up in communication in his office pleading with the senators to pardon him.
“I received the invite by the Senate quite late. I realized that when I followed the protocol for rescheduling somebody in my office didn’t deliver the message on time. As a disciplined force, I took administrative action to correct the anomaly in the future,”
"Kindly accept my sincere apologies as it was never my intention to disobey your summons,” he pleaded.
