By Tobias Ogutu
The law clearly defines the mandates of the police and the judiciary. The judiciary must involve the police when requesting the arrest of persons of interest; likewise, the police have no authority to pass judgment on suspects. However, the Kenyan police have increasingly acted as magistrates, deciding the outcomes of some cases at the police station. Such actions have led to injustices and encouraged certain behaviors in society. As a result, the majority of people no longer fear arrest, confident that matters will be resolved at the station with minimal or no punishment.
At the burial in Dago Unit, Nyamasaria, Nyalenda A, where the deceased was a victim of an attack by known thugs in the area, the father of the late openly blamed the police for the rising number of attacks. According to the deceased’s father, Nicholas Magar, the police have failed to maintain security because they rarely present suspects in court nowadays, instead calling for agreements between the victims and perpetrators. “Right now, the officers at Nyamasaria police base, instead of forwarding criminals to court, act as magistrates and resolve cases themselves at the station,” Magar lamented.
A village elder at Dago also recounted how he was assaulted by a young man whom he had helped the police arrest for stealing a gas cylinder from a neighbor. To the elder’s surprise, the young man was released at the police station. When he inquired with the complainant, he was informed that the police had resolved the matter at the station because the thief agreed to pay for a new gas cylinder. According to Mr. Magar, the complainant was given the gas cylinder at the station and told to return home, as the case was considered closed. The thief was set free, and when he encountered the village elder, Mr. Magar, he assaulted him and then disappeared.
George Okoth also recounts how police from Kondele station forced him to accept a payment after he was physically assaulted by a neighbor. According to George, he wanted to resolve the matter in court, but the officers insisted that the case was not worth pursuing since both parties were involved in the physical altercation. When George insisted on taking the matter to court, the officers arrested him as well, claiming he was also a suspect because he had participated in the fight. George spent a night in the Kondele police cell, and the next morning, he agreed to the police’s suggestion, accepted the payment, and his abuser was released.
It has become clear that the majority of cases do not reach the courts because officers at our stations have taken on the role of magistrates, resolving issues and accepting money in return. The Dago community suggested that the judiciary should allow civilians to file cases directly in court without having to go through police stations in order to obtain justice.
