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IPOA rules Kimaiyo out of order on tints

"It is therefore completely erroneous and irregular for the police to impound private motor vehicles on the purport that they have tinted windows"/FILE

“It is therefore completely erroneous and irregular for the police to impound private motor vehicles on the purport that they have tinted windows”/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 17 – The Independent Policing Oversight Authority is asking the public to report any unlawful harassment, arrest or seizure of vehicles over what it terms an ‘illegal’ order from IG David Kimaiyo over tinted windows.

IPOA chairman Macharia Njeru in a statement regrets that police officers have inconvenienced motorists and other members of the public since the ‘unlawful’ operation kicked off.

The authority reiterates that any directive which is not law abiding amounts to an illegality.

“The law clearly specifies Public Service Vehicles as the ones prohibited from use of tinted windows or tinted windscreens. It is therefore completely erroneous and irregular for the police to impound private motor vehicles on the purport that they have tinted windows.”

Section 5 of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority Act requires the authority to hold the police accountable to the public in the discharge and performance of their functions.

“The manner in which this directive was issued and the manner in which the police have commenced its implementation certainly does not meet the constitutional threshold of professionalism and accountability required of the National Police Service,” Njeru warned.

He further states that such an abrupt and unclear operation only perpetuates the image of the police service as untrustworthy and fosters corruption as members of the public are forced to part with bribes to avoid being arrested or detained in unclear circumstances by the police.

“The rule of law primarily requires that all laws being implemented be clear both to the members of the public and the law enforcers. Where instructions to the police are vague and not backed by any law as in the present circumstances, the same is prone to abuse as has been experienced and reported by the public.”

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