Law Society of Kenya (LSK) condemns police brutality, calls on IPOA and NPSC to speed up Investigations and resolve outstanding cases
NAIROBI, Kenya, May 1 – The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) led by President Faith Odhiambo has condemned attack against residents of Angata Barrikoi, Kilgoris who were peacefully demonstrating against threats to deprive and disposes them of their property and deny them their right to enjoy property which led to lost six lives following a shooting by police officers.
LSK has called for immediate action to investigate, identify and prosecute those who were involved within the police collectively, the foregoing occurrences and the reproach with which the relevant institutions and authorities have responded to the same are a cause for alarm for all Kenyans.
“The Law Society of Kenya is apprehensive that if the current volatile situation between the Public and the National Security Organs persists or is further exacerbated, Kenya’s sovereignty, democracy and constitutionality will be at the brink of imploding”, said President Odhiambo.
According to LSK, they noted that status released by Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) on 28th April 2025, highlighting the steps it has undertaken to address some sixty (60) cases of police brutality that have been registered with the Authority appears that several of the cases have been or are currently undergoing investigation nearly a year lateronly six of the investigations have been completed with statistic is not only underwhelming but near proof of dereliction of duty.
“IPOA has overstretched the grace and patience of the Kenyan public and we hereby put the Authority on notice that they run the risk of being liable for refusal to act in accordance with their mandate”, they said.
LSK demands that the National Police Service Commission and the Independent Policing Oversight Authority escalates investigations into the mass killings perpetrated by officers during last year’s demonstrations to a priority status and works to resolve the outstanding cases.
In addition they urge Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to instruct Inspector General of the National Police Service to sanction and undertake immediate investigations into each of the officers captured and identified in existing images and videos meting disproportionate violence against members of the public and or who are suspected of or implicated in the extrajudicial killing of innocent Kenyans.
“The National Security Council to issue a directive to all investigative agencies within the territory of Kenya to avail all resources and expertise necessary to establish the full extent of historical extrajudicial killings in Kenya, identify the perpetrators and victims and take available legal action against or in favour of them respectively”, said LSK in a statement.
Furthermore, they said documented reports of any investigations and inquiries that have been undertaken with respect to historical extrajudicial killings be made public and all victims and witnesses thereof be placed under Victims Protection to pave way for prosecution of the officers involved or suspected of involvement.
“We note that while constitutional and statutory protections exist to protect holders of public office from persecution for undertaking their mandate, these protections only apply where the actions reflect good conscience and legal fulfilment of mandate”, the statement reads further.
“These extrajudicial killings, the inaction in resolving and putting a stop to them, complicity in concealing their existence and the impunity of justifying why they have been perpetrated, do not fit within actions that are protected by law”.
