The latest travel advisory by the United States State Department, issued on August 9, begins by telling Americans to “reconsider travel to Kenya due to Covid-19. Exercise increased caution in Kenya due to crime, terrorism, health issues and kidnapping.”
It ends with the warning that “violent crime, such as armed carjacking, mugging, home invasion and kidnapping can occur at any time. Street crime can involve multiple armed assailants. Local police often lack the resources and training to respond effectively to serious criminal incidents.”
These are not statements that cover Kenya in glory. Say what you want of Magical Kenya but concerns by the US and many other Western countries on the level of serious crime in the country do not do our image a favour.
The Kenyan police is doing a great job in burying any shred of credibility we have in the world by being one part of the criminal enterprise. We can argue until cows come home that not all police officers are bad elements but the few brutal, bad ones are enough to cause maximum damage to the psyche of the citizens and visitors alike with their level of impunity.
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted on many tourism markets around the world and keeps pulling down economies of most countries. Ours has not been spared either. The last thing we need is a group of police officers implicated in bribery allegations, kidnappings, extrajudicial killings and extortion of visitors. We rely heavily on tourists from the countries that have been steadfast at issuing travel advisories against our country, especially the US, United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.
Tourism is a fickle industry; it takes the slightest shock for it to crumble. It is one of our highest earners but we are not committed enough to deal with insecurity to protect the industry from such shocks.
Extrajudicial killings
However, it is not only visitors’ security that should concern the government but that of citizens too. The latest reports on police brutality makes for sad reading.
A mother in Embu losing two innocent sons at the hands of overzealous police should be a ‘Code Red’ for impunity within the National Police Service and calls for a unified demand for reforming the institution. Sadly, that is not what happened. Instead, the police and government went into self-preservation mode and settled on transferring police officers involved than charge them in the court of law.
The Independent Police Oversight Authority (Ipoa) reacting after the horse has bolted is not the panacea to our policing challenges. The government, indeed, Ipoa, are reactive rather than proactive to police excesses. By the time Ipoa takes disciplinary action, is at all, it will be too late for victims of police brutality and impunity.
Benson Njiru, 23, and Emmanuel Mutura, 19, have had their lives cut short before their prime, like many other young victims of extrajudicial killings. Many innocent Kenyans who die at the hands of the police, whether it’s through an unnecessary shoot-to-kill policy or kidnappings, are still waiting for justice.
And could these deaths have been avoided? Most importantly, why is it so hard to reform our extortionate and killer police force into a unit that is known for saving lives rather than taking them needlessly?
Cosmetic reforms
I have argued several times before that the continued use of live bullets by the police on unarmed civilians contributes to the killings of innocent Kenyans by the officers. It is excessive and unjustifiable powers that is given to the Police, and which is also open to abuse as we have witnessed over the years. What would it take to replace live bullets with stun guns, which have a higher chance of saving lives?
We can jump up and down to get justice for victims of extrajudicial killings but the best justice is to ensure that innocent lives are not lost at the hands of corrupt and trigger-happy police in the first place.
Bribery and extrajudicial killings are intrinsically linked to unmotivated and underpaid police. This is the same lot we give guns, hence the power to take lives, and they will do so with not a care in the world, putting the lives of the innocent at risk.
The recent police reforms were cosmetic and did not go deep enough to run the golden thread of human rights and rule of law through its structure. New police uniforms were not necessary as much as stun guns. Or is it because kickbacks were desperately required? Are guns in the police hands for an ulterior motive and not keeping us safe? Kenyans need to know that.
It is not rocket science to reform the police from the institution bedevilled with impunity that it is to one that is exemplary to the citizens and visitors alike. Campaigns such as magical Kenya for promotion of tourism amount to throwing good money after bad if we still allow impunity to thrive within the police.
Let us reform the police to keep the citizens safe first and visitors would, naturally, feel safe to come over.
Ms Guyo is a legal researcher. [email protected] @kdiguyo