Governor Mandago protests sacking of cops in curfew saga
Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandago has taken a swipe at National Police Service (NPS) boss Hillary Mutyambai over the sacking of police officers who were captured on camera assaulting Kenyans as they enforced the 7pm and 5am curfew in Rift Valley last week.
Mandago, who is the chairman of North Rift Economic Bloc (Noreb)defended the affected police officers saying that they did not deserve the treatment meted against them for doing their work as directed.
He asked NPS to rescind the decision saying he officers were just implementing the government order aimed at combating the spread of coronavirus.
Mandago was reacting to recent interdiction of four police officers by the National Police Service after they were accused of brutalising civilians in the guise of enforcing the dust to dawn curfew.
The interdicted officers among them, Likia OCS and Mauche OCPD are all from Nakuru County.
The internal Affairs Unit and the Independent Policing Authority have taken up separate investigations into the beating incident following hue and cry from the public, civil society groups, religious and political leaders in the country.
This comes amid claims by a section of the officers to the effect that they were being victimized simply for carrying out their orders.
The officers claimed that the whips and clubs they used in the dusk to dawn operation were provided by the same government that was now hunting them down.
Regional Commissioner George Natembeya said preliminary investigation found that the officers physically assaulted people of Friday night.
Mandago told the officers involved in the dusk to dawn curfew not to spare those ignoring the directive to be in their homes before 7 pm in an effort to fight the spread of the disease.
We cannot compromise with the lives of millions of Kenyans at the expense of a few individuals who have refused to obey a government curfew order to curb spread of Covid-19 in the country,” said Mandago in Eldoret town.
He wondered who will enforce the curfew if all the police officers are shown the door for beating citizens who have defied thegovernment directive to be in their homes before 7pm.
The County Chief attributed the speed at which the deadly virus was spreading in the country to defiance by some people to obey the curfew order and exonerated the police officers from blame for doing their work.
