Kenya's police's dalliance with brutality, impunity stands out among global peers

The chilling footage of a lone, unarmed man flattened helplessly against the wall, desperately fending off two gun-wielding security officers who are throwing quick jabs at him, and then jumping off to escape them only to be hit by a round from close-range, which sends him sprawling onto the ground, bloodied, is probably the most trending video on Kenya’s social media space today.  

Ironically, Boniface  Kariuki was shot during a protest against police brutality on the back of the gruesome murder of Albert Ojwang, a teacher and blogger who was clobbered to death while in custody.

Kariuki was selling disposable face masks to protesters on the ill-fated day. He was cornered by two officers as he stood harmlessly on the steps of a shopping complex on Moi Avenue, in Nairobi, Kenya, a sachet of black surgical masks in hand.  

While this was happening, several protesters across the United States were marching under heavy police protection, and in some instances had their messages amplified by some officers. In one of those protests, No Kings Day, they were screaming expletives at the current Donald Trump administration. No gun was shot.

In far-flung Kenyan villages, mothers and fathers, who toiled to educate their children and then sent them to the city to make a livelihood, are being filmed, tear-eyed, mournful, as emotionally wounded lovers painfully plan how to navigate life alone after the death of their spouses at the hands of trigger-happy police officers. Every so often, a child is orphaned.

While the cases of Ojwang and Kariuki have received great attention recently, they are not isolated.

In 2024, Kenya experienced some of the deadliest anti-government protests post-independence, with police at the centre of killings and enforced disappearances.

According to Amnesty International, sixty people were killed and hundreds injured when police used “excessive and unnecessary force against people protesting a proposed finance Bill”.

“Draft legislation threatened to impose further restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. More than 600 protesters were arbitrarily arrested and detained, and dozens were forcibly disappeared. Extrajudicial executions continued to be reported,” the organization said.

The Finance Bill 2024, which caused great ire and inspired demonstrations in almost every Kenyan township, was passed by the National Assembly in spite of the protests.

The International Commission of Jurists noted that 2024 had an increase of 24 per cent of cases of enforced disappearances and police killings compared to 2023.

Over time, protesters in Kenya, particularly within Nairobi, have come to expect fire and brimstone from the police whenever they make an appearance in the streets, the motivation behind the demonstrations notwithstanding. Protesting doctors have been walloped unceremoniously, teachers have been teargassed incessantly, and students have been shot at.

A while back, when the world was struggling to shake off Covid-19, curfews were imposed in the country. For the police, it was a golden opportunity to brutalize and to fleece offenders, with excessive enthusiasm seen as those who flouted rules were sometimes beaten to near death. Actually, within three months of the imposition of the dusk-to-dawn curfew, the police had killed 15 people. The Independent Policing Oversight Body (IPOA) had, within that time, received 87 complaints against police.

Beaten or shot

Across the globe, stringent regulations were imposed. When it took too long to lift them, as new variants of the disease rapidly emerged, people got restless. They emerged on the streets in droves to protest.

In some countries, the police showed great restraint. No protesters were beaten or shot.

There are countless images of rowdy protesters facing off with security officers in London, with the police creating a stationary barricade and holding off protesters without use of force. Neither group barged into the other, but the protesters were loud, and they had their voices heard. In one particular incident, protesters sat outside Parliament Square as police stood their ground for hours on end, but no physical altercations were experienced.

Just recently, on June 14, police from Chicago, the United States, marched alongside protesters during the commemoration of No Kings Day.

The No Kings protests, also known as the No Dictators or No Tyrants protests, were anti-Donald Trump demonstrations that took place to express dissatisfaction about his policies since he assumed office for a second term earlier this year.

NASA Astronaut Terry Virts posted a series of videos and photos on X, formerly Twitter, of hundreds of anti-government protesters in a city square, with the police keeping their distance, barely interfering.

 “Houston knows how to protest against tyranny. Thousands of people are exercising their First Amendment rights peacefully, with our police keeping us safe. Couldn’t be prouder to be a Texan today!” he wrote.

America’s First Amendment, like Kenya’s Constitution, protects picketers.

Shutting down a protest through a dispersal order must be law enforcement’s last resort, the First Amendment states. Police may not break up a gathering unless there is a clear and present danger of riot, disorder, interference with traffic, or other immediate threat to public safety.

Even in those countries, in some instances, the police seek to crack down on protesters. It is measured, and within the tenets of law, oftentimes.

In Italy, for example, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition government has come up with a decree that criminalises the blocking of roads and the defacing of public property.

This is an affront to groups of anti-climate change protesters who are known to block roads to disrupt traffic, or to vandalize monuments by throwing paint at them.

And in March, United Kingdom’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned protests that have been ongoing around mosques and synagogues in the country as anti-immigration protests intensify.

“The right to protest is a cornerstone of our democracy, which must always be protected, but that does not include the right to intimidate or infringe on the fundamental freedoms of others,” she said.

In Kenya, peaceful or not, protesters have an infiltration of two factions of people: goons, who have within them thieves and pickpockets, and the police.

To the wrath on X, Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs Korir Sing’oei quoted a Dutch news outlet that indicated that police in the country were using excessive force, and trying to paint this as a universal behaviour.

“For those imagining Kenyan police are the only ones struggling with the scope of the use of force: Dutch police used violence 36,000 times in 2024, fired 13 shots,” he wrote.

In the recent skirmishes,  there was video evidence of some goons, who were armed with identical sticks, being accompanied by the police, an alliance that sparked fury among many. They seemed to have been sponsored by forces that were in cahoots with the legal security details. They helped police beat the peaceful protesters.

The police have, in some instances, issued warnings way ahead of the protests, banning them altogether. This is against the Constitution.

In July 2024, the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja banned protests in the capital’s central business district and its surroundings, saying that the National Police Service had “credible intelligence” that organized criminal groups were “planning to take advantage of the ongoing protests to execute their attacks, including looting”.

The police, thus, came prepared for battle, having forewarned the demonstrators and reiterated their belief that the protests were not entirely honest and peaceful. But most of these protesters were youth who long ran out of hope, and were desperate for a change of governance to a system that supports their dreams, puts them into gainful employment, and helps them secure their future.

In the buildup to the mega-demonstrations of June 2024, which culminated in a breach of Kenya’s National Assembly in Nairobi, it was noted that the thousands of peaceful protesters, who were themselves ruthless with thieves who were caught amidst them, were very soon infiltrated by vandals.

This bred an excuse for the police to use excessive force. Buildings were being broken into and looted, cars were being turned upside down and torched. To many, the police are always looking for an opening to mete violence on civilians. Conniving figures in the government have been accused of both funding the purchase of vehicles that are torched, and paying the people that execute the vandalism.

“The use of excessive force is ingrained in the culture of the Kenyan state police. The police treat citizens with suspicion. Everyone, especially the poor and marginalized, is seen as a potential criminal,” says Ann Wamuyu, a teacher.

Claudia Njoki, a scientist, says that there are members of the forces who are very keen on following the law and who are very humane, but that they are overrun by the rebellious, over-enthusiastic elements that operate with great impunity.

“They choose the kind of officers they want to be,” she says.

The Church’s calls for sanity have been largely ignored. The legal fraternity seems at a loss as laws are flouted right, left and centre. Following Ojwang’s murder in police custody, junior officers, who have been implicated and who are frantically trying to save their careers and avoid prison, have insisted they were acting on “orders from above”, a common utterance in Kenya synonymous with unchallengeable authority; higher cadre.

So dire is the situation that former Chief Justice David Maraga, a man many hold in very high esteem and who looked set for a quiet life after retiring from office, has decided to jump into the political murk and run for presidency in 2027.

“This regime has lost legitimacy. We are continuing our convenings with progressive Kenyans to chart the path forward for the country. This anarchy by the State cannot be allowed to continue unabated,” said Maraga.

The Archbishop of the Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Nairobi, Most Rev Philip Anyolo, has expressed discontent over police brutality.

“We are particularly distressed by two grave incidents: the point-blank shooting of an unarmed and seemingly innocent citizen, and the unchecked operations of violent groups, armed with poles, who were seen robbing, assaulting citizens, and destroying property and businesses without intervention from the security agencies,” he said.

It is widely assumed that the Church, which was a key platform on which the current administration rode to power, wields a lot of influence and the voice of key religious leaders could sway the vote in 2027, turning away masses from a political faction that has overseen runaway corruption, wastage and abuse of human rights.

Law Society of Kenya Council Member Gloria Kimani told Citizen TV that in spite of the protesters coming out to air their grievances peacefully, and with the pure intention to advocate for change, the use of police to wreak havoc has made the protests political.

“But true police reform must involve civilian participation,” she said.

International watchdogs’ reports have made for grim reading in Kenya, and embassies have sounded alarm over happenings around protests.

The International Justice Mission Kenya says that the shooting of protesters “is not an isolated incident. It reflects deeper, systemic challenges within the National Police Service, a growing crisis in police accountability.”

The United Nations, the US Department of State, the UK Embassy, the Finland Embassy and many more diplomatic bases within the country have issued statements condemning police brutality and cautioning their citizens against getting caught up in these altercations.

As they get more and more deadly, these protests could lead to huge economic losses for Kenya. They could also lead to investor flight.

At the end of a month of anti-Finance Bill protests last year, the Nairobi Youth Business Community said that property worth Sh3 billion had been destroyed.

Without recourse, way worse could happen going forward.