The government must own up and take action on police officers who brutalised Kenyans on the first night of the curfew on Friday.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe and Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai have to take responsibility and apologise to Kenyans.
When the president declared that the government would impose a curfew from Friday, he did not declare a state of emergency.
Neither did he suspend the Constitution. Nor were police officers given a carte blanche to do as they wish.
A curfew does not equate to vindictiveness and cruelty. It only means restriction of movement within a specified period of time.
Conversely, citizens have a duty to obey legitimate orders, especially during the current health crisis. And those transgressing must face penalties, which are spelt out in law.
The role of the police is to enforce the rule of law, not to break it. Neither are they allowed to take the law into their hands.
What we witnessed on Friday was horrendous. The alacrity and viciousness with which police officers descended on the citizens was frightening.
They did not even care to distinguish between those who were exempt – providers of essential services – and those breaching the rules.
To be sure, an NTV journalist on duty was clobbered by a belligerent police officer in Mombasa. Reason and common sense was thrown out of the window.
Police officers visited violence and mayhem when they could, at worst, easily arrest and lock up those who breached the curfew rules.
Some scenarios, like in Mombasa, where police hurled tear gas and beat up ferry commuters, were unjustified.
Worse, challenged over such incidents, police spokesman Charles Owino was bellicose. He rubbed salt into injury, stating that the police had reason to use force to disperse commuters.
Nothing could be insulting. It served to reinforce the perception that the police’s base instinct is to brutalise, not observe and enforce the law.
Which takes us back to the dark days when the police were an instrument of raw force.
This is the reason police reform was a top agenda in the campaign towards constitutional change.
Hence, the Constitution 2010 made deliberate attempts to reorient the institution, changing it from a force to police service, ostensibly to give it a new sheen and put it on a path to reconstruction and renewal.
But from the way they behave and carry out their duties, it is clear that what was envisaged has not been achieved and if pronouncements from the top officers are anything to go by, the vision may never be realised.
Police brutality has unfortunately created an unnecessary distraction. At this point in time, the rallying call should be on fighting a virulent pandemic that is ravaging the world and for which drastic measures are inescapable.
We all agreed that bold decisions have to be taken to contain the spread of the virus. Precisely, the objective of the curfew is to minimise public interaction and contain spread of coronavirus.
That became necessary because the infections have been rising steadily since the first case was reported two weeks ago.
On Saturday, the figure hit 38, with fears that the number may still rise and push the country into a crisis as witnessed in other countries such as Italy, Spain, France and the US.
Thus, every person has an obligation to stem the spread through keeping social distance and avoiding public places where contact could cause infection.
Kenyans are now acutely aware of the devastation of the coronavirus pandemic.
Deaths recorded abroad and locally, the stretch on health systems and economic depression arising from the plague are grim illustrations of its impact. No society is exempt.
The virus does not understand social classes; it strikes indiscriminately. Its surest cure is avoiding infection, which is mainly achieved through proper hygiene and keeping social distance.
Individuals have to stay at home and the curfew must be observed. As the World Health Organisation and the government have repeatedly asserted, controlling infection is an individual and collective responsibility.
Everyone has a duty to stop coronavirus spread. Carelessness and recklessness are unacceptable.
Getting public buy-in is vital here. Mr Kagwe has done pretty well to realise that. But enter the police and the goodwill is vapourised.
What the government wanted to achieve has been demolished by the crude acts of police officers.
We condemn the police brutality and ask for restraint. Never should the police behave the way they did. They are not at war with citizens.
Ours is not a savage state where those charged with enforcing the law violate it with impunity.
Ultimately, the public must obey government directives. Those found contravening curfew regulations should be seized and charged in court.
Everyone should stay indoors, observe hygiene protocols and keep safe. There are no two ways of stopping the pandemic.
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