Chasten rogue police
An incident in which two junior police officers humiliated their senior at a bar in Nairobi’s Eastlands has confirmed a not-so-well-kept secret.
This is the rampant abuse of powers by rogue police officers, who terrorise innocent citizens with abandon.
The senior officer, who was quietly having a drink, witnessed first-hand the high-handedness of some of his fellow members of the National Police Service. His protests and flashing of his service identification card did not help him at all.
An armed junior officer, in full uniform, and his colleague in civilian clothes molested and threatened to shoot him before frog-marching him to a nearby police station. His crime? Complaining that someone was smoking, flouting a public ban.
Impunity
This was the height of impunity and manifestation of the worst that can happen to anyone who falls into the hands of these wayward officers. On the receiving end this time was one of their own, but they were not interested in establishing who he was despite him properly identifying himself.
The duty of police officers is to enforce law and order but, as happened in this case, some of them shamelessly abuse the power and mandate entrusted to them.
It is laudable that the two are now in police custody, waiting to be arraigned, and that the DCI officer will present the evidence to get them punished for their criminal indiscretion.
The swift interdiction of the wayward officers is also commendable. But there is a need for far-reaching measures to prevent rogue officers from abusing their powers of arrest and misusing government-issued guns meant for their work.
Inspector-General of Police Hilary Mutyambai and his team must wield the whip and rid the service of the rotten eggs that are giving it a bad name and denigrating the hard work done by the majority of diligent and honest officers.
