Ruto orders IPOA over extra-judicial killings
3 min readRuto orders IPOA to furnish the ministry of interior with a detailed strategy on ending extra-judicial killings.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has been tasked by President William Ruto to present the Interior Ministry with a comprehensive plan for ending extrajudicial murders in the nation.
Speaking on Monday at State House, Nairobi, when he met IPOA to discuss their mandate, Ruto said his government is committed to weeding out the vice conclusively.
“You are uniquely qualified to help us define a mechanism to stop this practice,” Ruto told IPOA.
His directive came in the backdrop of another directive he issued a fortnight ago, where he commanded that investigations commence into incidences whereby police officers have been accused of extra-judicial killings.
IPOA however raised concerns with the probe, demanding the Internal Affairs Unit of the National Police Service to stop investigations into alleged extrajudicial killings by the now-defunct Special Service Unit (SSU).
“What concerns us mainly is that the Internal Affairs Unit of the National Police Service has taken over the investigations and the police, as you know, cannot effectively investigate themselves,” he told a press briefing.
“We are asking that this authority (IPOA) be left to carry out its mandate without interference from the National Police Service.”
IPOA last week also raised concern with the manner in which the SSU was dissolved. Waiganjo said the disbandment was “a little bit out of procedure”, without giving further details.
“The authority has always sought to know any formation of the National Police Service and who the members of those units are, who they report to and how they are formed. When the disbandment happened, the manner in which it was done, we thought it was a little bit out of procedure because the members of those units are under investigation.
They are Kenyans and they deserve justice,” he said.
He also noted that IPOA’s efforts in the probe have been met with “serious issues of cooperation” from members of the police.
President Ruto’s regime is currently dealing with two diplomatic issues against India and Pakistan after nationals from the two countries either disappeared or was killed in a case of mistaken identity.
Arshad Sharif, a prominent journalist from Pakistan, was killed while in Kenya in what the police have claimed to have been a case of mistaken identity.
Prior to Sharif’s case, two other Indians who were in the company of their local driver disappeared without a trace and are yet to be located nearly four months later.
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