“We assure Kenyans the utmost commitment to our mandate through undertaking of independent, impartial and fair investigations,” IPOA Chairperson Anne Makori (pictured) assured/FILE – IPOA
NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 12 – The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has launched a probe into a brutal crackdown by the police against protesting students at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) main campus in Juja on Monday.
The authority, in a statement issued on Tuesday morning, voiced concern criticizing how police deployed their order management mechanisms to contain rioting students.
IPOA urged those who witnessed rights violations during Monday’s demonstrations to file statements with the agency in order to help with the probe.
The authority said officers who acted in breach of law will be held accountable.
“We assure Kenyans the utmost commitment to our mandate through undertaking of independent, impartial and fair investigations,” IPOA Chairperson Anne Makori assured.
Amnesty International also issued a statement condemning what they termed as violent policing while welcoming Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi’s commitment to ensure the law enforcement officers who brutalized students are held to account.
Amnesty demanded that officers who violate the code of conduct are sanctioned and made to compensate their victims.
“Violent policing during public demonstrations must stop. It is impossible for the Republic to distinguish hooligans both in and out of police uniforms. Officers who break their code of office must be held individually guilty of misconduct, sanctioned and made to compensate victims,” said Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irũngũ Houghton.
The human rights organization further called on the public and police officers with information on the incidences of rights violations to come forward and share testimonials with Amnesty or IPOA.
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