Constitution of Kenya, Article 244 (c);
The National Police Service shall, comply with the highest standards of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
I have met very good, morally upright and professional officers. Truly, professional and living up to their motto; Utumishi kwa Wote (Service to all). I will never forget a police officer who once pleaded with me to allow him not lock up a suspect I had a complaint against since he looked old, weak and sickly and the cell was overcrowded. In his wisdom, he thought the guy would not last until his court arraignment three days later. On peeping the cell, I asked myself, ‘’what a humane police officer?’’
In the recent past, the country has been shocked by careless acts by police officers in various parts of the country. At the beginning of the year, two police officers allegedly shot and killed a young guy who had an altercation with a public service crew. The boy who had sought refuge away from the accident scene met his death by a police bullet to his head when he returned thinking that the police would contain the situation.
The uncalled for shooting incidence occurred a few hours after another shocking incidence on the night of January 10, 2026, when approximately 10 uniformed police officers armed with rifles and batons stormed a table pool pavilion in a Nandi Hills town. CCTV footage captured the officers acting as if they were shooting a Mexican movie bursting a Narcotics lab and its ringleaders. In jesters and aura, they were captured on audio-video recording ordering young men to lie on the floor before physically assaulting them with batons and pool sticks.
I kept on asking myself some questions which I am still seeking answers. Is it incompetence, is it poor upbringing, is it bad training, were they acting on some orders or it was just pure recklessness powered some cheap steroids and second-generation liquor?
In the first incidence, the police could have handled the situation better by listening to the two sides and if mediation couldn’t work, make professional arrests if possible and arraign any suspects in a competent court of law.
In the Nandi Hills incidence, the unwarranted kicking and whipping of the young people could have been avoided. In the first place, the young men were not committing any crime by playing pool table games. In fact, instead of engaging in criminal activities and or in consuming liquor and drugs, the youth were busy in their recreational activities.
One of the most globally recognized philosophy in fighting crime is in the policy of ‘’wining the minds and the hearts’’ of civilians. Through this, the citizens would find themselves as an important cog in the wheel of fighting crime in their localities. However, the opposite is true. When the police climb their own pedestal of brutality and terror, the citizens will fold their arms and retreat into their cocoons of silence and assume the attitude of ‘’see no evil, report no evil’’
The police must swallow their colonial attitude mentality and live in the current sprit of being a service and not a force. Article 244 (a) should be their guiding point, ‘’Strive for the highest standards of professionalism and discipline amongst its members.’’
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