Police bosses liable for crimes by their juniors

There is not a single police officer who does not know that the Constitution guarantees the right of Kenyans to participate in peaceful protests. However, police officers routinely brutally break up peaceful demonstrations.

They are directly to blame, for instance, for the nearly 60 deaths, hundreds of injuries and destruction of property during the Gen Z protests against “punitive and oppressive” tax proposals in June and July 2last year. Police have also been blamed for the abductions, disappearances and extra-judicial killings of young government critics.

The core duty of these officers is to protect lives and property. Instead of lobbing teargas at protesters and bludgeoning them with rungus, they should be ensuring crooks and other criminals do not interfere with this constitutional undertaking by law-abiding Kenyans. People should be protected as they picket and express their grievances. Only those who break the law should be arrested and arraigned.

In a ruling that is bound to have far-reaching ramifications, a judge has declared that police bosses are liable for their juniors’ crimes. After all, the juniors normally carry out their excesses under the authoritisation of the seniors. On December 31, 2024, the High Court ruled that the Inspector-General of Police can be held liable and even prosecuted for the actions of his juniors. It also means that police bosses can be charged, and/or sued for damages, if their command or the lack of it, leads to injuries and/or death.

This could open the floodgates, as the many victims of police brutality during the anti-government demonstrations and protests against the abductions of online critics initiate private prosecutions. Justice Jairus Ngaah’s decision reinforces an earlier High Court ruling that police officers can be sued in their personal capacities.

Police bosses must uphold the rule of law and not violate the citizens’ constitutional rights.