Irate residents of Mwea East in Kirinyaga on Saturday, April 16, stormed Itangi Police Station demanding to take action against a police officer they claimed had assaulted a businessman in leaving him unconscious.
According to the locals, the businessman was riding home on his motorcycle when the officer and his colleagues stopped him without reason and attacked him.
Confirming the incident, Police Commander Daniel Kitavi stated that he was forced to intervene stating that the officer had been moved out of the station.
One of the protesters who claimed that he was a neighbour of the man narrated that he was called and notified that the man had been taken to the hospital.
When he went to the hospital, the doctors told him that they could not attend to the injured man without a notification from the police.
Together with other wellwishers, they ferried the man to the police station but the officers locked him in a cell instead.
“I found him at the hospital but the doctor said that he could not treat him without a statement from the police.
“We put him on a motorcycle and took him to the police station and the officer who was supposed to issue him with the documents and the one who had beat him up dragged him by his feet and put him in a cell,” he narrated.
The man stated that he was forced to reach out to the assistant chief together with other residents to help the victim get treatment.
However, the officers told them that the police vehicle did not have enough fuel to take the man to the hospital.
“I went home and brought his children and other neighbours with me to the station. We found seven officers who told us that they would beat us up as well.
“We then went to the assistant chief who spoke to them but they were saying that the police car did not have enough petrol to take him to the hospital,” the resident added.
Further, the protesters alleged that police officers in the area had developed a habit of asking for up to Ksh20,000 in bribes before serving them.
“Every time we come here for services these officers tell us to give them Ksh20,000 or they don't attend to us.
“Our people are arrested and they are detained in the cells because we don't have money to bribe them,” another resident added.
Kitavi stated that officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had already started investigations into the matter.
Earlier on April 12, an angry mob stormed a police station in Makutano Township in Kapenguria, forcefully took a suspect who was under police detention, and lynched him.
