The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has issued a progress report on their investigations into deaths and injuries recorded during the Gen Z-led demonstrations.
In a statement on Thursday, September 5, 2024, the oversight authority informed Kenyans that it had concluded a probe into some of the matters and forwarded the files to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
According to IPOA, DPP will review the files before giving the way forward on the matter investigated.
Independent Policing Oversight Authority Chief Elema Halake made the revelation during a session with journalists in Laikipia County.
“IPOA had dispatched concluded investigation files to the Director of Public Prosecutions for review, signalling an end to some of the probes into various incidents where lives were either lost or protesters injured during Gen Z protests,” a statement from the oversight authority read in part.
However, Halake did not give specific details on the issues that were investigated.
Conflicting figures
The government and different human rights watchdogs issued different figures on those killed and injured during the anti-government protests.
As of July 1, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) disclosed that at least 39 péople were killed and hundreds more injured in anti-government demonstrations.
“Data from our records indicates that 39 péople have died and 361 [have been] injured in relation to the protests countrywide,” KNCHR stated, adding that the figures covered the period from June 18, 2024, to July 1, 2024.
The toll announced by KNCHR was almost double the figure previously disclosed by the authorities for those killed while contesting a set of unpopular tax increases.
IPOA appeals
Following the revelation, IPOA appealed to Kenyans to share information that could help them investigate police officers accused of using excessive force in dealing with protesters.
Rex Masai Kanyike was the first victim of the police excess.
Despite calls for justice, IPOA indicated that witnesses had not come forth to record their statements. They added that those who took him to the hospital after the shooting ordeal had also not stepped forward to help with the investigations.
Moreover, the IPOA decried the lack of cooperation from the National Police Service (NPS), derailing their efforts in pursuing justice.
“It is not just lack of cooperation from police senior command; it is also from some government institutions.
“We have been visiting some major public hospitals, trying to get medical records of those involved in the demonstrations and those we think their injuries are related to gunshot wounds, and the institutions are not giving us the cooperation that we require,” Commissioner Joseph Waiganjo said in a previous interview.
“In the life of IPOA, we have not seen the levels of noncooperation from senior commanders that we are seeing now,” he added.