Residents of Kwanza center in Trans Nzoia County held demos over a case of police brutality. A resident, Ingalasia Valentine, said police officers roughed him up, leaving him with injuries. Trouble started when Ingalasia visited a pub at the market to look for his motorbike and his rider, and police officers were at that time, taking liquor. They attacked him without reason, stating that he was looking for it in the wrong place.
He said they squeezed his private parts and threatened to shoot him if he continued to question their actions, “I had gone to the pub to inquire whether the bike’s rider was there and once I reached there, one of the policeman who I know well attacked me claiming I was not allowed to enter the club,” said Ingalasia.
Following the attack, residents poured on the roads of Kwanza market and demonstrated for more than two hours calling upon the
Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) to intervene. Businesses as well as transport activities were paralyzed for the most part of the day as demonstrators engaged police offices in running battles.
Some of the residents said officers at the area police post are corrupt and love taking bribes. they said court cases have stalled several times because the police officers at the post demand bribes and turn the station to a kangaroo court. “This police station at center Kwanza is rotten. Most of our cases ranging from 2019 to date haven’t been taken to courts as most of them have been involved in corrupt dealings, derailing justice in the process.”
