Individuals in plain clothes, covered faces, unmarked cars, and riffles pulled up at Mr Kirwa’s home in the middle of the night. They broke into the house and dragged the family from their warm beds out into the cold, slapping and kicking, guns to their head.
They said they were the police, without showing any identity cards, and were looking for the man of the house who was not present then.
After thoroughly searching the premises, they left the house early in the morning. As the shock wore off, the family discovered that the intruders had left destruction in their wake. Their new 65-inch Oled Samsung TV was cracked, smashed coffee table, and Mrs Kirwa’s jewellery was also missing. Three days later, Mr Kirwa was found dead on a riverbank.
The autopsy report showed that he had been tortured, and molested, his feet burnt, and died of asphyxiation. Even though the police promised a thorough investigation, the killers were never brought to book and the case file is gathering dust at DCI offices. Sounds familiar?
“Operating in unmarked vehicles and wearing plain clothes is the standard procedure for DCI,” said Charles Owino, former police spokesperson in an interview with Citizen TV this morning.
Listening to this statement, I couldn’t help feeling an impending doom settling in the pit of my stomach. Memories of the youth being gunned down by plainclothes officers riding in unmarked cars, during the recent protests are still fresh in the nation’s mind.
This is a worrying trend. Authoritarianism, the regime’s identity, affirmed by the police’s operating procedure in contravention of the 2010 constitution, is a double-edged sword.
Our nation prides itself on progressive policies, however, one wouldn’t dispute the retrogressive actions of the elite in their plight to crush dissension by misusing the powers conferred to their offices.
What would stop criminals from mirroring this trend? Daylight abductions have become commonplace. There have been several instances of abductees never being seen alive again and the trail runs cold as there is no one to prosecute for these ‘crimes’.
Listening to public sentiments and following social media conversations, concern, and scepticism are common emo. A majority are scared. Discussions are mostly centred on the right response to the increasingly blatant disregard of the law by the police.
People are sharing their thoughts on strategies to employ against the open terror by the Service. Mostly violent responses are admitted.
This signals a stark future in the relationship between civilians and men in uniform, a relationship that was already in the gutter even before the recent escalations.
Ours is a nation governed by the rule of law, with one of the most progressive constitutions in the world.
However, the protectors have trained their guns on the protected and it is not a police service anymore, but a police force. The state is a tinderbox waiting to explode.
Unless the service revises its standard operating procedures, the situation might spiral out of control, and retaliations by the aggrieved will be a welcomed respite by the majority.
