By Tobias Ogutu
In a society, there is a set of laws guiding the morals of the people. Kenya, as a nation, has a constitution that guides its citizens. For the laws of the country to be effective, there needs to be people responsible for enforcing them. In Kenya, those enforcing the laws are the police. Unfortunately, the police who have been entrusted to enforce the law are often the first lawbreakers. In Kisumu East sub-county, the people of Nyalenda A ward often suffer at the hands of the rogue police from Kassagam Police Station. The majority of law enforcers in this police station lack discipline, making the residents wonder whether they have gone through proper training.
The officers from Kassagam Police Station always patrol within Nyalenda A ward, not only to ensure security but also to get their daily earnings from the local brewers. Every night at around 7:30 PM, a group of seven to eight officers will pass through Okonyowelo market armed as if they are ready to handle anyone causing a disturbance to the peace. But if you follow them keenly, you will find their destination to be one of the local brew dens in the area. Here, they will not interfere with those drinking when given what they want. However, if they do not get their target amount, the party will end with everyone being arrested.
The truth of the matter is that the local brew dens thrive not because they are unknown to the authorities, but due to the fact that those responsible for eradicating them are shareholders. One of the brewers confessed openly that there are some officers of the law who bring the brews to them, especially those they find being transported by unknown people who are not in partnership with them. The local brews make youths useless in the community and need to be eradicated, but this won’t happen soon, because the police have turned a blind eye.
Secondly, these officers are known to make illegal arrests too, and this happens frequently around the fifteenth to twentieth days of the month when their pockets are dry. During this period, these officers are cruel and will arrest anyone they meet at night, especially youths. Recently, in “capital area,” Nyalenda A ward, a young man coming from a latrine was arrested in front of his door in his inner clothing. The officers accused him of loitering at night. When the neighbors came out to intervene, the arrogant officers used tear gas on them, and they ended up taking the young man without allowing him to put on proper clothing.
The next day, the young man narrated how the officers were asking for money from him. One officer allowed him to use his cell phone to call anyone who could pay one thousand shillings in exchange for his freedom. The young man could not think of anyone, so the officers walked with him about four kilometers away from his house and released him. By this time, it was already past midnight; the officers had no option but to release him because they could neither extract money from the young man nor lock him up since he was innocent. Walking four kilometers away from your house in your underwear past midnight is dangerous and against human rights; yet, these lunatics in blue uniforms did not consider that.
The police officers from Kassagam Police Station are not carrying out their responsibilities in the right way. Now that the head of State has permitted the police to shoot people in the leg, the residents of Nyalenda A ward are worried. These rogue officers need taming.
