Ex-IPOA commissioner says authority underfunded and lacks sufficient investigators

Speaking about the death of Albert Ojwang', who died while in police custody, Waiganjo expressed doubt about expecting increased cooperation from officers in investigations, stating that police conduct is consistent in investigations.

“I think the blue code of conduct by the officers is consistent in investigations, so I do not expect there will be more cooperation now than there was not last year,” Waiganjo said.

Waiganjo stressed the importance of keeping politics out of such sensitive matters. 

"But more importantly, it is not to politicize issues like this because a life has been lost," he said, adding that bringing politicians into Albert's death case would mean missing the point.

Instead, the focus should be on legal accountability mechanisms, particularly command responsibility, which Waiganjo noted is now very clear in our laws. 

He referenced the pending Baby Pendo case, stating it would create jurisprudence that allowed the commodity responsibility.

Waiganjo emphasized that individual officers, particularly those at Central Police Station, must understand their responsibility. He stressed that officers need to know that illegal orders or complying with illegal orders is no defense.

“I think it is important to inform our officers, the members of the National Police Service, that illegal orders or complying with illegal orders is no defense because when it gets down to you, you will suffer alone,” Waiganjo stated.

The Ex-Commissioner referenced recent presidential statements about officers receiving problematic instructions. 

"I heard what the president said, that the officers are disclosing that they are getting instructions and they have to hold Kenyans in custody for weekends on end, so it’s important for the police to know that," Waiganjo noted.

A major concern raised was the inadequate funding of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA). 

“But also more importantly, is the funding of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, including increasing their investigators and their budgets. Because as long as that is not done, they will go around in circles,” Waiganjo said.

“We know they have very few investigators. The investigators have no powers of arrest. They are not armed. Their budgets are low. They are in eight regions in the country," he outlined several constraints facing IPOA.

Due to these limitations, Waiganjo predicted that whether we want it or not, convictions will remain low and cautioned that we cannot entirely blame IPOA for low convictions.

Waiganjo explained that accountability failures can occur at multiple levels. 

"Interference can be on any level. It can be at the political level. It can be at the ODPP. It can also be in the National Police Service," he said.

He emphasized that when such matters arise, they should be handled with a lot of care because a life has been lost, and we cannot afford now to start talking politics back and forth so that we get justice for this family and many other families that have lost their lives.

“A life has been lost, and we cannot afford now to start talking politics back and forth so that we get justice for this family and many other families that have lost their lives,” he explained. 

Waiganjo detailed how complaints are distributed across different institutions, stating that not all complaints to IPOA are prosecutable cases.

"Some of those complaints will necessarily go to the Internal Affairs Unit because they are disciplinary in nature. Others will go to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. And others will go to the Commission on Administrative Justice," he explained.

The Ex-IPOA Commissioner concluded with a defense of most police officers, stating that not all police officers are wrong.

"There are many officers within the service who do their work very diligently and professionally. But there are others who are wrong. And those who are wrong are very few," he stated.