Operating in unmarked vehicles, no uniforms is standard procedure for DCI - Ex-police boss Owino

This follows a high court order directing officers to desist from hiding their identities and faces when deployed in demonstrations.

According to Owino, the former Police Spokesperson, the use of unmarked cars and not wearing uniforms is DCI's modus operandi and changing that might not be feasible.

"You cannot stop the DCI from operating the way they operate. You cannot ask them to put on uniform when they are used to operate in civilian clothes," he said speaking on Citizen TV's Daybreak show.

Owino noted that the DCI officers who always concealed their faces, walked with deadly firearms and used unmarked Subarus during the chaotic protests were deployed to apprehend any goons who infiltrated the protests.

The officers were the main suspects behind the then-rampant abductions that were witnessed in the city.

"If there are criminals entrenched then it calls for DCI officers at times to get involved in supporting the persons managing riots to maybe pick individuals who could be criminals in these teams," he said.

"You may not say DCI officers cannot get involved in such operations if need be and in those cases they will use unmarked cars, they will not have uniforms because those are their standard procedures."

He further opined that the petitioner who moved to court, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), only seeks to have their interests served and have the abduction suspects brought to book.

"It serves the interests of the individual who went to court who maybe have a feeling that there were abductions and they were clear that it ought not to be the police involved," he noted.

During the protests that rocked the nation in the past two months, the LSK constantly condemned the police brutality meted out against the protestors including arrests and forceful disappearances.

Led by its president Faith Odhiambo, the society has since been advocating for all protestors in police custody to be released unconditionally. 

"We have been trying to suggest they negotiate the bail and bond cash terms so that we ensure everyone is released. Unfortunately, we have been subjected to violence and even one police officer wanted to hit me personally," Odhiambo said during a past interview. 

The latest data by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) reveal that 66 protestors were recorded missing while 60 people died during the protests. 

Meanwhile, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) is seeking to hold top police commanders accountable as it intensifies its probe on the questionable police conduct during the protests.

IPOA is targeting nominated Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja, who at the time was the interim IG and the Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei.