IG Koome should resign over deaths of protesters in 2017, 2022 - Activist Boniface Mwangi

Speaking on Citizen TV’s JKLive show on Wednesday, Mwangi recounted when IG Koome was Nairobi’s County Commandant in 2017 during Uhuru's government, accusing him of also overseeing police brutality which resulted in deaths during opposition-led demonstrations.

The renowned activist went ahead to cite the recent demonstrations where over 30 people have lost their lives under Koome's leadership, therefore, suggesting that he should step down and face the law.

 “I think the problem is we never hold the police accountable for their actions; the last 4 weeks have been a mess, there have been a lot of murders by the State and I think the officers involved should be held accountable,” Mwangi stated.

“There should be a prosecution of the people involved and I think Japhet Koome should resign because, under him, innocent unharmed Kenyans were murdered - cold blood murder.”

Mwangi also referred to the emergence of an unidentified killer squad within the police adding: “In 2017 I was shot along Kenyatta Avenue when Koome was the Nairobi County Commander. There is a rogue militia in the police service. On Athi River, some people came in Subarus, with no number plates while in civilians and were shooting everywhere.”

The activist faulted the Azimio-One Kenya Coalition Party as the Opposition over what he termed as a failure to hold violators of the Constitution to account.

According to Mwangi, the Raila Odinga-led faction should have objected the nomination of IG Koome since as the Opposition in the previous government, Koome had committed the crimes under their watch.

“Azimio is actually failing by not talking about these things in parliament and they also failed by allowing Koome to become the IG because Koome killed people in 2017; he was Nairobi town commandant and there is a human rights report on those killings as well,” he noted.

“We are dealing with politicians who are like warthogs…they have no memory. They don’t look at history and never learn from the past. They get a chance to go to the table, they talk about themselves and their families and not Kenyans who have died and suffered because if Azimio really cared about 2017, Koome couldn't have become the IG.”

Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga who seemingly agreed with the activist regarding the conduct of the IG, lamented that the police have no respect for Article 37 of the Constitution.

Activist Mwangi reiterated that police officers in the country are habitual lawbreakers in regard to dealing with protesters and should all be held accountable.

“The police have never respected Article 37 of the Constitution…the police do not follow the law when it comes to protests; any protest that seems to embarrass the government is just broken and disrupted. If you do a protest that is pro-government, they will provide security."