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14-07-2024
NAIROBI: Kenya’s police watchdog has said it is investigating whether there was any police involvement following the discovery of nine mutilated bodies in an abandoned quarry in Mukuru, a collection of slums south of Nairobi.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) said at least “nine deceased persons” were dumped less than 100 metres from the Kware police station south of the Kenyan capital.
“Seven deceased persons are believed to be female while two are males,” it said on Friday. “The bodies, wrapped in bags and secured by nylon ropes, had visible marks of torture and mutilation,” according to the statement.
Kenyan police are under intense scrutiny after dozens of people were killed during antigovernment demonstrations last month, with rights groups accusing officers of using excessive force.
Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome resigned over the crackdown and deaths, the presidency announced on Friday.
Meanwhile, the IPOA said that due to the location of the dumping site and the “widespread allegations of police involvement in unlawful arrests, [and] abductions”, the agency was undertaking preliminary inquiries to establish whether there was any police involvement.
It also called on the police to take “immediate and hastened forensic investigations” to identify the bodies.
Miriam Nyamuita, an activist with the Mukuru Community Justice Centre, told the Reuters news agency that most of the bodies that were found have decomposed except one that was “fresh”.
“We don’t know if we can relate it to protests or it’s femicide since most of them are women,” she added. The Kenya Human Rights Commission, a non-governmental organization, also urged a “comprehensive investigation” to determine the cause of the deaths and those responsible.
“The perpetrators must be held accountable,” it said on X, and the government “must take accountability for this heinous crime”.
The demonstrations began over the government’s proposed tax hikes in a new finance bill. While President William Ruto scrapped the tax increases, protesters are demanding that he step down and for the police to be held accountable for the excessive violence against them.
Kenya’s police chief has resigned after criticism of officers’ conduct during recent antigovernment demonstrations in which dozens of protesters were killed.
The presidency said in a statement on Friday that President William Ruto has “accepted the resignation” of Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome, who has served in the role since November 2022.
Deputy Inspector-General Douglas Kanja has been appointed acting police chief with immediate effect, the presidency said.
The announcement came a day after Ruto sacked nearly his entire cabinet, bowing to the demands of protesters. Some of the young people behind the demonstrations had called for Koome to go, with police accused of using excessive force during the protests, the most serious crisis of Ruto’s near two-year presidency.
Kenya’s national rights watchdog said at least 39 people were killed in the antigovernment protests.
Reporting from Nairobi, a journalist Catherine Soi said Koome’s resignation was “very significant”.
“This is what these young protesters and many other Kenyans have been asking for. They were asking for the police chief to resign because of how he handled those protests,” she said. (Int’l News Desk)
