Kisumu police bosses face jail in baby death
Director of Public Prosecution Keriako Tobiko. He has ordered prosecution of four Kisumu police bosses over the death of six-month-old Samantha Pendo during post-election protests in August 2017. PHOTO | WACHIRA MWANGI | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The children were allegedly killed by police officers deployed to quell demonstrations in Nyalenda and Mathare.
- The DPP revealed that Ipoa could not identify the officer who shot and caused Moraa's death.
Four Kisumu police bosses face legal action for the death of six-month-old Samantha Pendo during post-election protests in August.
Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko has ordered the National Police Service to act on the senior officers and directed that a public inquest into the killing of Stephanie Moraa Gisemba, 8, in Nairobi be instituted.
The NPS should, in addition, compensate the families.
The children were allegedly killed by police officers deployed to quell demonstrations in Nyalenda and Mathare.
DPP
This comes a day after the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) announced that it had completed investigations into the two killings and 12 others and forwarded the files to the DPP.
In a statement, Mr Tobiko asked the NPS to take action against Kisumu County Police Commander Titus Yoma, Kisumu Central Administration Police Commander Benjamin Kosgei Koima, Kisumu East OCPD Christopher Mutune Maweu and Kisumu Central OCS John Thiringi, who were in charge of the operations.
Pendo died on August 15.
“Ipoa concluded that the commanders were negligent in the manner in which they handled police operations on August 12, 2017, resulting in the death of Samantha Pendo,” read the statement signed by the ODPP Head of Communications Rose Kipyego.
The prosecution chief said the commanders had failed to coordinate the police operations, making it difficult to identify the officers who “committed the criminal acts to be known and ultimately impeding Ipoa investigations”.
CRIMINAL CHARGES
On Moraa, the DPP revealed that Ipoa could not identify the officer who shot and caused her death on August 12.
“Consequently, Ipoa concluded that, given the high standard of proof required in criminal cases, it could not recommend any criminal charges concerning the said incident against any of the police officers involved in the operation in question,” said the DPP.
Mr Tobiko recommended that the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) compensate the families of the two girls for the unlawful use of force by officers.
He advised the families to pursue civil proceedings against the police should NPSC fail to compensate them.
He also asked the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHRC) to assist all the victims of police operations.
