104 Kenyans killed by police in 2024 - Report

This is according to a joint report by the International Justice Mission (IJM), Amnesty International Kenya (AIK) and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), which highlighted a 24 per cent increase in cases of enforced disappearances and police-related killings in 2024 (159) as compared to 2023 (128). 

Enforced disappearances recorded the highest number in the past five years at 55. It also recorded a 450 per cent increment from 10 cases in 2023. 

"Most cases of extrajudicial killings took place during the Gen Z demos between June and August, with June recording the highest number of cases at 38, July 11 cases and 9 in August. Bringing police killings cases to 58 during the protest period," the report read in part. 

Nairobi County led with the number of killings at 38 cases, followed by Kiambu with 9 cases, Migori 6, Kakamega and Nakuru had five cases each, with Makueni and Uasin Gishu recorded 4 cases of police killings.

In terms of gender, 91 per cent of the victims of extrajudicial killings were men compared to females (nine per cent)

"Males, and especially young men, continue to bear the brunt of the cases of police killings."

The report, however, indicated that the 104 recorded cases of police-related killings excluded 50 unclaimed bodies lying at the City Mortuary and were reported to have been booked on July 25, 2024, citing that they were yet to establish the link to police. 

Further, the figure did not include 36 members of Uganda's Forum for Democratic Change who were reportedly abducted in Kisumu on July 23, 2024. 

Despite the high figures, the report highlighted concerns that only 2 cases arising from the protest have been taken to court. 

The report also highlighted the Baby Pendo case that has dragged on for seven years, with the latest development involving the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dropping charges against 8 senior officers. 

"Even more worrying was the move by the DPP to expose witnesses in the charge sheet, endangering their lives," the report read in part. 

"It is worrisome that the majority of cases forwarded to ODPP arising from protests have either been returned for further investigation or closed, making it difficult to hold police officers to account for public order management violations."

In the report, the three bodies called for the National Police Service to undertake radical reforms to bridge the trust deficit between the public and security agencies and also prevent another recurrence of the brutality witnessed in 2024. 

Further, they urged IPOA and DPP to urgently act on the protest-related cases to prosecute the officers behind the violence. 

To aid the victims' families, the lobby groups demanded that Parliament allocate funds to the Victim Protection Fund and also ratify the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances, which criminalises such cases.