The Cabinet Secretary for Ministry of Interior, Dr. Fred Matiang’i, says the Government has no policy supporting extrajudicial killings and any claims suggesting so are unfounded and untrue.
Adding that the Government is committed to concluding all cases lodged against rogue police officers and deliver justice to any civilian whose rights might have been abused.
“The police do not execute anyone as a means of policing, such false information often leads to unjustified castigation of police officers in spite of the daily sacrifices they make to protect and serve Kenyans,” Dr. Matiang’i noted.
Dr. Matiang’i urged all civil society and human rights activists to be responsible and balanced in their review of police officers. He encouraged them to cease making alarming statements against police officers as this could create unnecessary tension.
He also condemned the recent attacks on police officers and commended officers for their grit to soldier on in the face of such unjustified and despicable attacks.
“While reporting police misconduct, we should also speak against unwarranted attacks on police officers while they are on duty,” Dr. Matiang’i noted.
The CS exuded confidence that the ongoing reforms within the National Police Service (NPS) are testament to the government’s commitment to sustaining a culture of human rights-compliant officers.
This is despite worrying statistics provided by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and human rights Organisations led by the Independent Medic Legal Unit.
By October this year, IPOA was probing 243 killings by police, all committed in the last 12 months.
In the last two weeks of October, 18 more suspects of crime were killed, a majority of them in urban slum areas according to the state agency tasked with investigating such incidents.