Over 50 officers have been summoned by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) over the deaths, serious injuries and other unlawful acts allegedly committed by police officers during the Finance Bill 2024 demonstrations by Gen-Z’s and the Azimio protests of 2023.
Over 15 senior police commanders including the Bungoma County police commander Francis Kooli have been directed to appear before the IPOA detectives from tomorrow to Thursday, for grilling and statement recording.
Following the summons, the Kenya Police Service headquarters directed the officers to meet their respective legal officers today ahead of the appearance for briefing.
“Legal officers from this headquarters will meet with concerned officers at the Regional headquarters on September 16 for briefing prior to appearing at the Authority offices on the respective dates,” a letter signed by Elizabeth Marube on behalf of the Deputy Inspector General reads.
Officers listed
In the Western region, Commander Kooli and his Kakamega counterpart Lucy Kananu, the Bungoma South police commander Wilson Muraya and his Kakamega Central counterpart, the General Service Unit (GSU) officer in charge of the Kakamega State Lodge, and the officer in charge of the Akichelesit Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) are among the officers listed as persons of interest in the ongoing investigations.
The IPOA on August 30 wrote to DIG Kenya Police Service, stating that they are currently finalizing independent investigations into the killings and injuries which occurred on diverse dates in Western Region during the Gen-Z and Azimio demonstrations in 2024 and 2023 respectively.
“In the course of its investigations, the Authority has established that several police officers were involved during the said police operations that resulted into deaths and serious injuries among other crimes,” IPOA wrote.
Section 7(1) of the IPOA Act empowers the Authority to requisition and obtain documents and summon any serving or retired police officer to appear before it.
“On this premise, the Authority requests your office to summon the following 21 police officers to appear before the Authority for interview and statement recording,” IPOA wrote to the police boss.
Already, senior officers from Nakuru and their juniors have been grilled over the same following the shooting of K24 TV journalist Catherine Wanjeri among other attacks. Kananu, for example, is expected to furnish the detectives with certified copies of police operation orders for June 25, July 2, and July 23 plus all OB entries, all police signals, Arms Movement Registers, and the number of ammunition allocated to each officer.
Shot dead
On June 25, Reagan Ouko and Caroline Shiramba were shot dead while Daniel Chimoita, Loise Mulefu and Joseph Mwanza were seriously injured in Kakamega County. In another case on July 23, Daniel Wanje and December Shivachi were fatally shot while seven others were seriously injured
He is also expected to provide a list of all and registration numbers and identifications of all vehicles and motorcycles and the Work tickets.
The Authority had earlier warned that senior police commanders would be also held criminally responsible if the ongoing investigations do not identify the individual officers involved in the shooting of protesters.
IPOA had noted that the detectives were facing various challenges including non-cooperation by police commanders, witness interference and threats and a general lack of credible witnesses among others.
In October 2022, for example, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for the first time in Kenya’s history explored the concept of command responsibility and directed that the 12 police commanders who served in Kisumu in 2017 be charged for the death of Baby Pendo.
