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Two years after the Kenya Kwanza administration came into office, very little has been done to professionalize the security sector and make it more accountable.

Though the services have managed to reduce incidents of terror attacks in the country, concerns have also been raised on the rampant and humiliating manner in which police have been arresting and abducting people.

The government has also not effectively dealt with cattle rustling and banditry especially in the North Rift, according to a recent study by the National Crime Research Centre (NCRC) that showed that over 300 people have been killed since last year, 2023.

The report further indicated that there was increased use of terrorism-like violence and militarization and the vitalization of modern weaponry during such raids.

IPOA concerns

The Independent Oversight Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) has also raised alarm that there could be a specific unit, deployed alongside the ordinary deployment, purposely to commit atrocities.

Early this year, the Internal Security Principal Secretary Dr Raymond Omollo directed that officers should act within the law while arresting suspects.

“All arrests made in any part of the country are subject to the Criminal Procedure Code that spells out how arrests are executed, and detention and trial of suspects,” the PS said.

The same sentiments had earlier been echoed by the Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary, Dr Korir Sing’oei, when the DCI officers arrested former Nandi Hills MP Alfred Keter when he left a church in Kileleshwa.

According to PS Sing’oei, the manner in which Keter was arrested was akin to adopting extra legal means.

“There is a procedure for effecting an arrest. This is not one of them. We must resist the temptation to adopt extra legal means even in the pursuit of legitimate objectives,” Sing’oei said. Despite all these, abductions and killings are still reported with the IPOA saying they have received numerous complaints over unlawful arrests, abductions and killings, specially of protestors.

In an earlier interview, IPOA Commissioner John Waiganjo said investigations had already been launched but said they were concerned over the unprecedented lack of cooperation from police commanders and other government agencies.

Police IDs

It has also been revealed that even officers in uniform have been concealing their identities by hiding their nametags and service numbers.

“We as an authority are suspecting that there is a specific unit that is being sent out there, apart from the ordinary deployment, to go and commit atrocities and that is why we get so frustrated when we don’t get information from the police commanders,” he explained.

The force used in some of these cases has been unnecessarily aggressive even when lesser actions may have been appropriate.

Force, according to experts, must be proportional to the gravity of the offence, the legitimate objective to be achieved and whether the suspect poses a threat to the officers.

“Section 49 of the Police Service Act allows the security officers to use force only when it is necessary and to the extent required in the execution of their duties,” Omollo said.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Faith Odhiambo has also condemned the abductions, likening them to a return to a dark era marked by an oppressive and clandestine police force. Chief Justice Martha Koome had also expressed deep concern, describing the abductions as a direct assault on the rule of law, human rights, and constitutionalism.

She further urged all state agencies to uphold their constitutional duties and ensure adherence to the law, warning that any deviation could lead to anarchy and lawlessness, undermining the constitutional order.

Immediately Japhet Koome was appointed the Inspector General of Police, concerns were raised regarding how his officers handled the Azimio demonstrations, the police execution and the thorny issue of police inaction in some cases during demonstrations.

One of the cases is the apparently well-planned raid at former President Uhuru Kenyatta family’s Northlands farm along the Eastern bypass in Kiambu County.

There have also been reports of weaponization of the criminal justice system and the misuse of the police by the government to settle political scores and intimidate opposition members.

Cattle rustling has still been an issue with a study showing that different counties have their unique aspects in the present-day raids they were experiencing. The unique aspects include the commercialization of livestock rustling and banditry, collapse or diminishing value for human life as evidenced by higher number of people injured and killed, increased and or frequent raids and the higher number of animals stolen.