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{
    "id": 1121123,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1121123/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 259,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13219,
        "legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
        "slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
    },
    "content": "Another case took place in broad daylight at 11.00 a.m. at Mama Lucy Hospital in Eastlands, Nairobi City County. A Mr. Daniel Mburu was shot by a police officer outside Mama Lucy Hospital. The good news is that particular police officer was charged on 12th March, 2020. These cases are pending in court for hearing. Again, we commend the DPP for the good action. We have mentioned a number of cases in our report. In all these, we also commend the Officer of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), which has done the bulk of the investigations that culminated to the charging of the police officers that were involved by the DPP. However, as a Committee, we need to extend a lot of assistance to IPOA because they are facing a number of challenges. One of them is that the police, as a matter of practice, never notify IPOA on deaths or any serious injuries that are occasioned to members of public. This is in clear violation of Section 25 of IPOA Act, 2011. We need to consider some amendments that should make it mandatory for the police to inform IPOA. Madam Deputy Speaker, another problem and challenge that IPOA is facing is the non-operationalisation of the National Coroners Service Act and the Prevention of Torture Act, 2017. These Acts were passed by Parliament, but they have never been operationalised. So, they are not of help to the victims. Another challenge is that Kenya has not ratified the International Convention for Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances. We have recommended that the Office of the Attorney-General should take action. In terms of getting witnesses that can assist in convictions of the cases that are before court, we were told by IPOA that witnesses face intimidation and threats from police officers. Some of the police officers have friends in the police service, who threaten and intimidate the witnesses. Another problem is that most of the recommendations to the police from IPOA are never acted upon. This is especially where there is recommendation that disciplinary action, including interdictions, be taken by the police service. Most of these recommendations are normally disregarded by the Inspector-General of Police. There is a recurring problem of crowd control management by the police service across the country. The reports that we are getting from IPOA is that any time they are called upon to respond to a riot or a demonstration, the police readily resort to live ammunition. This is unlike what we see in other countries where, for example, rubber bullets or other means of crowd control are used. The reports that we have from IPOA is that the Kenya police readily resolve to live ammunition against Kenyans who are picketing as permitted by our Constitution. Madam Deputy Speaker, a number of regulations are yet to be passed by the Cabinet Secretary (CS). This applies to those touching on the National Police Service Act, especially Part XII Section A. This blame is squarely on the CS for Interior and Coordination of National Government. We have recommended that these regulations should be enacted and approved by Parliament within a period that we have given in our report. In total, IPOA recommends full adherence to the rule of law by the police. The hard edge is that you can never be a judge over your own course. Victims or suspects of"
}