Cell deaths in Kisii spark anger as police chief blames illness

Residents in Kisii County and human rights groups are demanding that police account for the death of four people in their custody under unclear circumstances.

Three deaths have been reported at the Rioma Police Station, two of them last week and one late last year.

Another death was reported on Monday at the Kisii Central Police Station.

Justus Nyangeso, 45, died while in police custody, with security bosses saying he was sick.

He was arrested on Thursday when security officers raided his home where he sold local brews.

He died at the police station on Monday after failing to raise a Sh10,000 fine to secure his release.

County Police Commander Francis Kooli said the man had complained of stomach and head pain.

Dead on arrival

“He was arrested on Friday but started complaining of pain on Saturday. We took him to Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital (KTRH), where he was treated and discharged,” he said.

He added: “On Monday, he complained again and we rushed him to the same facility but unfortunately he was pronounced dead on arrival.” 

Mr Nyangeso had been arraigned at the Kisii Law Courts on Friday and charged with dealing in alcoholic drinks without a licence. He pleaded guilty and ended up in custody after he failed to raise the fine.

Because of rising cases of Covid-19 in the county, convicts are being quarantined in police cells for 14 days before being taken to prison.

While police say Mr Nyangeso fell ill, his widow Jackline Osiemo claimed her husband was tortured by police and that led to his death.

“My husband was in good health when he was arrested on Thursday. I never saw him again until I was called Monday to verify whether an unknown body that was lying at KTRH was that of my husband,” she recounted.

Nyangeso’s family claimed they were barred from checking on him while he was in custody, with police at the station citing the escalating cases of the virus.

Internal bleeding

“When I was told on Friday that he had been fined Sh10,000, I tried to reach out to my friends for assistance but nobody was ready to intervene,” she added.

This meant that Mr Nyangeso would remain in custody until Monday as his family sought funds to have him released.

Ms Osiemo told the Nation yesterday that one of their drinking clients had decided to bail him out but on reaching the station he was not there. 

The station commander told them that Mr Nyangeso had fallen sick and had been taken him to hospital.

“When my husband was arrested he was in good health but I was shocked when I learnt of his death. We went to KTRH and established that indeed he had died,” she said.

His body had scars all over it, with the medical report indicating that he died from internal bleeding.

She argued that Mr Nyangeso was the breadwinner and urged authorities at the Kisii Central Police Station to explain what exactly led to his death.

Police shooting

He has left behind four children, aged 17, 6, 3 and 1.

Locals flock their home in Nyachenge village, Nyaribari Chache Constituency in Kisii County in the early morning every day seeking alcohol.

Mr Nyangeso started selling the illicit brews in the 1990s when he was a teenager.

In yet another incident, protests erupted in Kisii County on Sunday over the alleged police shooting of a 16-year-old girl the previous night.

Reports indicated that police shot the teenager as they tried to disperse protesters who wanted to torch the Rioma Police Station in Marani sub-county.

The Standard Six pupil at Marani Primary School died at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital.

It is said she was walking home when she was hit by a stray bullet. Her death sparked day-long protests on Sunday, with residents engaging police in running battles.

Beaten to death

They demanded the suspension of Marani police bosses, saying they have remained in the area for too long.

“We will only rest after they are suspended. The police officers here have become notorious and kill us at will,” said resident Margaret Nyaboke.

The county security team was locked in a meeting the whole day.

On Saturday night, Rioma residents protested following the death of a convict identified as Erick Achando.

While residents claim Mr Achando, a boda boda operator, was beaten to death by security officers for flouting the 7pm curfew, police say the 25-year-old man was sick.

His family said he succumbed to injuries he suffered after officers from the station assaulted him during the arrest.

His wife Linet Achando narrated how she received the sad news, attributing the death of her husband to police brutality.

Death of convict

“I was in the house preparing for dinner when I heard people screaming while mentioning the name of my husband. He had died while under their watch,” she said.

“When we visited him on Thursday, he told us that police had assaulted him and he had developed stomach pains”.

Shedding tears, Mrs Achando, a peasant farmer, said her husband was their breadwinner and she will not manage to raise their four children aged 14, 9, 7 and 4.

The family now wants the officers involved in the accident to be charged with murder.

According to witnesses, the officers who were enforcing the curfew at 7:30pm roughed up the victim using clubs after his colleagues escaped.

Mr Kooli confirmed the death of the convict, but attributed it to illness.

“The three convicts were rushed to Marani Sub-County Hospital for treatment where one of them died,” Mr Kooli said.

Shot and killed

The victim had been charged with a traffic offence and was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment or a fine of Sh8,000.

The two bodies were moved to the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.

In July last year, a police officer shot and killed a trader at Rioma market for allegedly selling substandard hand sanitisers.

The killing of the 40-year-old man sparked violent demonstrations by locals, who vandalised sections of the police station.

An attempt by locals to torch the station failed but they broke windows and doors.

Rioma Police Station in Marani Sub-County was started in the late 1990s to curb crime in Rioma, a town on the border of Homa Bay and Kisii counties. The station has turned out to be a source of tragedy for the residents.

Members of the Luo and Kisii communities who reside in the region say instead of helping to curb crime, officers at the station have become the greatest violators of law and order.