When police and goons work together, it's a recipe for chaos

What began as a peaceful protest in the heart of Nairobi on Tuesday quickly degenerated into a horrifying scene of violence, anarchy and impunity. Kenyans had taken to the streets to demand justice for Albert Ojwang, a young man whose life was senselessly cut short under brutal circumstances that point directly at police officers including the Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat.

Instead of listening to the people’s demands, the State responded in a way that has now become their modus operandi and that is through repression, intimidation and brute force. But what made June 18 especially disturbing was the chilling alliance that played out in broad daylight - the unholy union between police officers and politically-sponsored goons.

What we witnessed was not just a breakdown of law and order. It was a coordinated betrayal of the people by the very institutions meant to protect them. From early morning, the signs were clear. Groups of young men, some masked and others brazenly bare-faced, began appearing on street corners in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).

Armed with crude weapons including rungus (clubs), nyahunyos (whips), daggers and stones, they did not even attempt to conceal their violent intent. They attacked peaceful protestors who were exercising their constitutional right to assemble and express themselves. Protesters were beaten, chased down streets and their placards torn to shreds.

But the goons didn’t stop there. Innocent bystanders including hawkers, commuters, boda boda riders and city workers also became victims of their indiscriminate violence. Mobilephones were snatched from people’s hands in full police and public view. Shops were vandalised and looted. Chaos reigned as business owners shuttered their premises and pedestrians scrambled for safety.

The most shocking aspect of the day however, was not just the violence itself but rather who enabled and protected it. As VOCAL Africa and other human rights defenders observed, the goons operated under the direct protection of the police. In several instances, they walked side-by-side with police officers. Laughing, chatting and coordinating their movements like colleagues on a joint mission.

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Eyewitnesses captured images and video clips of armed goons patrolling alongside police officers, unchallenged and unafraid. Not once did the police attempt to disarm them or stop their violent activities. Instead, at various points, both goons and police moved together as a single unit. Attacking protestors, beating them with clubs, spraying tear gas and firing at them indiscriminately. This was not an accidental overlap. It was an orchestrated collusion.

The rot that festers in the heart of Kenya’s policing system was laid bare. How can a professional police service, paid by taxpayer money, actively collaborate with criminal gangs to silence dissent? How can law enforcement, sworn to uphold peace, stand idle or worse, actively participate while citizens are brutalised and robbed in broad daylight?

In one heart-wrenching incident, a vendor selling face masks was shot at point-blank range by a police officer. He was not part of the protest. He posed no threat. He was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. His only crime? Being a Kenyan in a city where life has become dangerously cheap.

Perhaps even more disturbing are the clips that show police officers not just watching goons loot shops but also sharing the stolen property. In one video, a group of police officers was seen helping themselves to stolen laptops, laughing as they boarded the police vehicle near the crime scene. They didn’t arrest the looters. They joined them.

The events of that day are not just an attack on protestors. They are an assault on the very idea of democracy, justice and the rule of law. The use of goons to infiltrate, disrupt and destroy peaceful protests is a dirty trick pulled straight from the dictator’s playbook. It is a deliberate strategy to delegitimise citizen dissent and justify state violence.

Politicians who sponsor thugs to terrorise their own people are enemies of democracy. They are cowards who lack the moral courage to face public scrutiny. Instead of addressing the legitimate grievances of the people, they hide behind clubs and daggers using state machinery to shield them from accountability. Let it be known that Kenyans are not blind neither are they deaf.

We see and hear what is happening. We know that these goons were mobilised, paid and deployed by political operatives determined to silence criticism of a corrupt and crumbling regime. We know that police officers who stood by, laughed and looted alongside them did so because they were ordered to or at the very least, permitted to do so by their superiors.

The Kenyan people will not be silenced by fear, thuggery or State-sponsored brutality. Justice for Ojwang is not just about one life. It is about reclaiming our right to live in a country where human dignity is respected and protected. We demand an immediate and independent investigation into the events of June 18. Every goon captured on camera attacking citizens must be arrested and prosecuted. But more importantly, those who mobilised them, the politicians who funded and directed them, must be unmasked and held accountable. Impunity ends when those at the top are no longer untouchable.

The police officers who facilitated these crimes, who guarded goons, looted shops and shot innocent civilians, must be dismissed and prosecuted. Enough of the internal “inquiries” that lead to nowhere. We need real consequences. When the police become protectors of criminals and enemies of the people, the social contract collapses.

What we witnessed in Nairobi on June 18 is not just a public order issue, it is a national crisis. A government that allows such carnage to take place under its watch is either complicit or dangerously negligent. Let it be known, and let it be clear that when the police and goons work together, it is a recipe for untold chaos and mayhem. It is a path toward civil collapse.