PM orders swift action on drivers' killings

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has directed Internal Security minister George Saitoti to expedite the investigations into the killing of seven taxi drivers in Nairobi.

He ordered that the suspects be arraigned in court within 48 hours. “I want this to be a test case of our (government’s) commitment to police reforms and the rule of law,” Mr Odinga said at his office on Saturday.

He said suspension of the officers was not enough, saying they must be arrested and charged in court. “This is what would happen if an ordinary Kenyan does what the officers did. The law must apply equally to all.”

Nairobi police boss, Mr Anthony Kibuchi on Saturday confirmed that the officers who carried out the killings had already been arrested.

Prof Saitoti on Friday clashed with Dagoretti MP and Public Health minister Beth Mugo as he argued that police were in “an act of self-defence from criminals.”

But the PM was angered by the remarks, noting that the manner in which the victims were executed showed that they were not combative. The victims had been shot from the back. “So many people have been killed in the name of fighting Mungiki sect members and in the pretext that the police shoot in self-defence,” he said.

“The rule of law and constitutional and God-given right to life must apply to each and every Kenyan,” he said adding that the police were getting away with too many murders. “I am very, very disturbed by what is becoming a culture of police brutality and impunity in our country,” he added.

Only last year, the PM and other government officials were in Geneva to respond to concerns about police killings in the wake of the murder of two Oscar Foundation officials. Mr Oscar King’ara and Paul Oulu were murdered on State House road, Nairobi. The two had protested against extra-judicial killings of Mungiki sect members.

Amnesty International, a human rights body, has called for the investigations into the killings to be impartial, independent and the results be made public. “The promise of a police investigation is a step in the right direction,” said Godfrey Odongo, Amnesty International’s East Africa researcher.

“But unlike many previous investigations, this one must be impartial and independent and its findings must be made public and acted upon.”

Under international law, Kenya is obliged to respect and protect the right to life of all its citizens. This includes taking effective measures to protect people against acts of violence and to bring perpetrators to justice. “Police should be the enforcers of law and must not be allowed to rise above it,” said Mr Odongo.

“Anyone identified by the inquiry as having been responsible for extra-judicial killings should be brought to justice in a trial and the families of those killed should be compensated.” Lawyer Paul Muite while on a tour of Kawangware, where the killings took place, condemned the killings. “These were hardworking Kenyans and they did not deserve to die,” he said.