Update 13:35 p.m: Speaking to K24 Digital, Nairobi Regional Police Commander Phillip Ndolo argued that the officers were justified in executing the arrest of Mildred Atty Owiso.
Ndolo informed that Mildred was arrested for allegedly inciting violence towards an officer from members of the public and, therefore, police from Buruburu were dispatched to her Umoja One Estate home to make the arrest.
“The police officers identified themselves, and asked the suspect to open her door so that they could effect an arrest, but the suspect refused to allow the officers in. She locked her door from the inside, making it difficult for the arrest to be made,” Ndolo was quoted by K24 Digital.
“Honestly, what would you do if you are a law enforcement officer, and a suspect refuses to let you arrest her over an alleged crime? The officers assigned to arrest her followed the lawful procedure,
"One: identify yourself, two: reveal why you are at the suspect’s premises, three: ask him or her to surrender, four: should he or she refuse, then use any means possible to effect the arrest. That is what we did, and use of teargas to smoke out an uncooperative suspect is not illegal in any way,” he added.
The police boss alleged that Mildred was arrested for not only the Friday, January 24 incident, but also several others from the past in which she eluded law enforcement.
"The said offence is not the only wrong-doing we have arrested Owiso for. She has several other cases in different police stations that we are following up on. Many a time, she has managed to escape arrest. Yesterday’s offence was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Ndolo stated.
The police commander affirmed that Mildred would be arraigned in court on Monday, January 27.
A video of police officers raiding the house of Mildred Atty Owiso, an activist and one of the administrators of a popular Facebook page, Buyers Beware, surfaced online on Saturday, January 25.
This comes a day after another video of her confronting a police officer who had boarded her vehicle went viral.
In the Saturday morning video, people she alleged to be police officers could be seen climbing over the perimeter walls of her compound, while others were spotted on the roof of another house, calling upon her to open the doors.
Several teargas canisters were lodged into the compound in a bid to force her out of the residence.
At about two minutes into the video, Mildred could be seen rushing for the tap to mitigate the effects of the teargas.
"They are trying to break into my home. They have killed my dogs," Mildred alleged, as she instructed for the doors to remain locked.
"Tell me which police station you want me to report to and I will come there. Why are you breaking into my house?" she asked.
Eight minutes into the video, an officer broke her door lock and accessed the house, despite her efforts in asking for time to dress up and usher them in. Upon entry, the officer immediately seized her phone as they asked her to dress up and accompany them.
"You think you can joke with us? We are not to be messed with!" one of the officers could be heard warning.
"Take her outside, I don't even know why she's dressing up right now. She had all the time to do it," another stated.
"I don't understand why we are being easy on her. Take her away," one is heard as saying, as they escorted her out of the premises.
The previous day, Mildred's confrontation with a police officer who had entered her car attracted a huge crowd of people who alleged that it was not the first time that the officer had done that.
"The police have no right to get into someone's car. They should command you to the station you are supposed to go to. They should not get in your car and ask you to drive them to the station.
"I will never give the police a ride in my car. If there is an issue, tell us which police station we are going to but the police have no right to ask someone to drive them in their car," an angered Mildred ranted.
This was not the first time Mildred was involved in an altercation with a police officer. In November 2019, she was seen engaging county council officers in a heated argument after they had entered her vehicle.
NPS in May 2019, however, clarified that it was not an offence for a police officer to commandeer any vehicle during routine inspections.
"It shall be lawful for any police officer in uniform to stop any vehicle, and for any police officer, licensing officer or inspector, (a) to enter any vehicle; (b) to drive any vehicle or cause any vehicle to be driven; (c) upon reasonable suspicion of any offence under this Act, to order and require the owner of any vehicle to bring the vehicle to him," the Traffic Act (CAP 403) reads in part.
The law further stated that any person who fails to comply with the act shall be guilty of an offence and liable on the first conviction to a fine not exceeding Ksh 30,000, and for a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding Ksh 50,000 or to imprisonment for a term of one year.
