As we speak of fighting graft and sending home corrupt leaders, the police department should also be thoroughly checked to clean the mess in it. Here is a story of a young man who is battling with a bullet wound after accidentally being shot by a police officer in the cell. the story unearths the rot in the police sector
On the evening of Friday, February 22, Kennedy Onyango together with five other men was arrested by Administration Police from Dandora, after they were allegedly found smoking bhang.
The funny thing is that, by the time they got to the AP camp, only two suspects were left, as the three gave out bribes and earned their freedom back to the streets. The police were asking for sh.5000 to set them free.
So, Kennedy Onyango and the other man spent the night at the AP camp instead of the Dandora police station which is just a few kilometers away, to give them more time to source money from family and buy their freedom out.
The law dictates that if a person is arrested, they are supposed to be booked in the Occurrence Book (OB) before being kept in the Cell.
Administration Police do not have an OB at their offices or camp, and therefore it was illegal for the AP police to keep Kennedy Ochieng in the Camp Overnight.
If an AP office arrests a suspected criminal, they are required to take them to the nearest police station to be booked.
Onyango spent the night at the AP camp and was only transferred to Dandora Police station on Saturday in the evening.
‘ACCIDENTALLY SHOT’
His family went to the police station on Sunday to deliver breakfast. It is here they learnt their son was “accidentally” shot inside the cells.
“We came in the morning and were told we can’t see our son. We were asked to wait for the OCS,” said Collins Ouma, Onyango’s father
“‘Pole sana, your son was shot accidentally in the cell’. That is what the OCS told me,” said Mr Ouma.
That Sunday, the police took Onyango to Mama Lucy hospital where he only received first aid before he was transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital.
He has admitted at the KNH since February 24 where doctors removed a bullet from his thigh. On Thursday evening, Onyango was discharged and the police took him to Dandora police station.
The family has been left to clear a bill of Sh250,000 for the surgery their son underwent in order to remove the bullet.
“They told me they will take him to Makadara law court in the morning (Friday). The family was at Makadara law court early on Friday morning. I have just called and I was told they are not bringing him here( Makadara law court) again,” said Ouma.
NO PLEA
The court has refused to have him take a plea because the police detained him for more than a month.
Sources close to the investigations said the police now want to charge him with robbery with violence.
The family has been asking for the OB number all in vain.
“I’m afraid if he has not been booked, anything can happen to him. If they can shoot him inside their cell, they can do anything to him,” said his Ouma.