Former police spokesperson Charles Owino has cautioned against the tendency to demand responsibility from police bosses over the conduct of their juniors under their command.

Speaking to a local TV station on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, Owino observed that such a demand could lead to anarchy in the country as police would opt for a laid-back approach to combating protests or dealing with them.

Owino sensitised on how the issue of command responsibility and individual responsibility must be distinguished and approached with utmost caution, without putting undue pressure on police bosses.

Cause Havoc

Owino asserted that the individual responsibility of an officer should always take precedence.

“If we keep on pushing police commanders to take responsibility for their juniors in the field, then the police will pull back in many cases for fear of using firearms, and bad people will take charge and loot the shops or cause havoc,” he stated.

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Owino, who has been at the forefront of advocating for reforms in the police sector, added that the police have no right whatsoever to execute an individual while in the line of duty.

“No officer can give an order to shoot and eliminate a person. Even when a person possesses a gun, you do not just shoot him; you try to do your best as an officer to disarm and disable him, but not to kill him. It is only the courts that have the right to make the verdict to kill. Human rights are sacred,” he added.

His remarks come months after he cautioned Kenyans to embrace the reality of officers using firearms on them as part of the country’s standard policing practice.

Responsible policing

Speaking to a local TV station on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, Owino called out individuals and certain right-wing groups for misleading the Kenyan youth that the police cannot use firearms on them.

“Do not lie to the public that police will not use firearms against you. The police must be responsible, and we have officers facing the law for their misdeeds, but do not lie to young people that the police will not use guns on them. Let us face the reality as a community and society,” he stated.