Recent cases of police officers jailed for various crimes highlight the importance of accountability in policing.

On July 28, 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld a seven-year sentence against two police officers for fatally shooting Nairobi businesswoman Janet Waiyaki at City Park seven years ago. After reviewing the file, the superior court concluded that the trial court had lawfully convicted William Kipkorir Chirchir and Godfrey Kipngetich Kirui of murder.

On July 24, another officer, Jackson Konga, was sentenced to 30 years for murdering his boss, Senior Sergeant Christopher Kimelli. Justice Julius Nangea of the Nakuru High Court delivered the sentence for the killing that occurred on August 8, 2023, after Kimelli reprimanded Konga at the dog unit for failing to escort suspects to the reporting office as required by law. Konga reportedly became enraged and shot his boss in the chest, killing him instantly.

More recently, Eldoret High Court Judge Reuben Nyakundi found two police officers guilty of killing Dennis Lusava on October 7, 2020, after arresting him for allegedly failing to wear a face mask during Covid-19 restrictions. He sentenced them to 35 years each.

The court established that the officers handcuffed Lusava to window grills at the police cells and tortured him to death instead of presenting him before a court. While dismissing their defence, the judge observed that as officers tasked with protecting civilian lives and property, there was no reason to torture and kill the suspect. He dismissed their plea for a non-custodial sentence after they killed the father of two children, aged nine and 14, then stuffed his body in a gunny bag and dumped it in River Nzoia to cover up their crime.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, police officers exploited the global health scourge to extort bribes from those caught breaching restrictions on a scale never seen before. Those without money were routinely tortured, some to death like 31-year-old Lusava, making a mockery of measures intended to protect life by killing those who breached protocols.

Following countrywide protests against 2024 fiscal policies, several senior and junior police officers have been arraigned on criminal charges for human rights violations, including killing unarmed protesters.

Yet in their zeal to stop the protests, the government has weaponised anti-money laundering and terrorism laws, exploiting vague definitions in legislation like the Computer Misuse and Cybercrime Act and the Prevention of Terrorism Act to instil fear and chill freedoms of association, assembly, and expression.

The June 7 arrest and subsequent killing of teacher-blogger Albert Ojwang at Central Police Station the following day highlights high-level police abuse of authority. Ojwang was accused of defaming Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat on social media.

While there may have been a case of defamation as claimed by the DIG, his officers acted zealously, arresting and driving the blogger all the way from his Kakoth village in Homa Bay County “for insulting our boss” in what was clearly a civilian matter. This further highlights how officers act in total contravention of the Constitution, the National Police Service Act, and regulations.

The writer is the Executive Director of the Kenya National Civil Society Centre, and Chairperson of the Horn of Africa Civil Society Forum; [email protected]