Police brutality in sharp focus as some Kenyans now express support for Ian Njoroge

The entire country was understandably horrified by Njoroge's brutality as we all watched the short clip where Njoroge appeared to spare no force in brutalizing his cop adversary and repeatedly so.

The video opened with the 19-year old thrusting the cop into a ditch before landing several heavy blows on him - it then gets worse as Njoroge keeps the pounding coming, forcefully landing several kicks on the cop's head.

So ugly was the incident that bystanders can be heard yelling at Njoroge telling him to cut it out.

"Achana na yeye bana!" one man is heard pleading. "Achana na yeye!"

Not so long after the dramatic roadside attack, Njoroge was arrested at a hideout in Nairobi and, quickly, his story - and face - dominated Kenyan headlines with many sharing their sentiments on Njoroge's character, what they think went wrong, what they thought of the altercation and what fate would befall him.

One thing is for sure - Njoroge's goose is cooked.

As he started making his way to court, claims of molestation and harassment while in police custody started filtering to the press. His own mother appeared to confess that she met a barrage of officers in her house - all manhandling her son.

Everyone had something to say. Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko claimed to have talked the aggrieved cop into forgiving Njoroge. Celebrity car seller Kalif Kairo firmly stated that Njoroge deserved the 'worst' that the justice system had to offer and Wakadinali rapper Scar Mkadinali expressed his open support, even offering to pay bail for the defendant. 

Online, thousands others, too, explained why they thought Njoroge was right - or outrightly wrong.

The major discourse which appeared to come out of the unfortunate saga, however, was that Njoroge probably acted out of police frustration and that, having being pushed to the wall and faced with little or no options, he acted out his frustrations and stood up for himself - albeit violently.

His mother, already, has claimed that the officer was demanding a Ksh. 10,000 bribe from Njoroge. He only said he could raise half of it. Even in an informal - and tense - interrogation which occurred in what was probably a police vehicle, Njoroge himself said that the officer had demanded a rather large amount to let him go.

"I was just angry. We were not understanding each other because he wanted a lot of money which I could not get..." Njoroge said to his interrogators.

A huge constituency of Kenyans, who consumed the story from its genesis, and who have been themselves victims of police brutality before or have read about or witnessed it, appeared to oscillate towards Njoroge, with many finding no fault in his actions, some even daring to say that they were prepared to settle his bail.

Renowned rapper Scar Mkadinali, of the Drill group Wakadinali, did not mince his words. Clearly and unequivocally, Mkadinali said that he has fully behind Njoroge and that he would pull all stops to secure his freedom - including 'bribing' the officers.

"The cops used all the resources they have to get Ian Njoroge. But ile day nilireport uwizi mliniambia nilipe 5k ya kuweka iyo gari yenu mafuta. I will bribe one of you and make sure that boy is free!" he tweeted.

Just before that, he had also tweeted: "If Ian Njoroge has no criminal record I will bail him out! Njege masanse wakwende. For the times these m*****z beat me up for no reason!"

While some disagreed with his stance (no pun intended), a majority of the rapper's fans appeared to agree with him, especially on the fact that, having being a victim of police brutality himself before, he was absolutely right to sympathise with Njoroge's plight as well as pick sides in a civilian-cop standoff.

"I once paid Ksh. 30,000 to cops ati cos they claimed I was drunk and disorderly. None of that was true! I was literally walking home, a little tipsy, that's all. I'll never forget that date, June, 12, 2022!" one bitter Kenyan said.

"I will never side with the cops! Free my boy Njoroge! Ni vile sisi wote hatuwezi pigana, it would get real ugly out here!"

As the barrage or varying opinions continued to flood the internet, many Njoroge sympathisers started pulling out old videos of past instances where the Kenya police were recorded, sometimes in broad daylight, meting out unspeakable violence on civilians.

In some of the videos, police are seen ruthlessly clobbering anti-government protestors, in some, they're beating up women in slum riots and in others, they're strangling and whipping people at isolated traffic stops.

Armed with overwhelming evidence from the tens of videos shared online, and with some giving their own testimonials at the hands of the police, a majority of Kenyans understandably sided with Ian Njoroge - in as much as they condemned his actions.

Many argued that, clobbering an officer in broad daylight is purely criminal... But, given the circumstances surrounding the altercation, the age of both players and the claims made by Njoroge after arrest, he may have been justified to throw a few kicks around.

Others factored Njoroge's age, with many saying that it was foolhardy to mete severe punishment on a young man who has just started campus and is yet to acclimatise himself with the complex workings of the adult world.

Renowned journalist Verah Okeyo sympathised with Njoroge, saying, "Guys, do you all realise that boy is 19??! 19! And the state and grown men are now committed to destroying him?!"

And when someone appeared to disagree with her, Okeyo pressed on, reasoning; "The law shouldn't be applied arbitrarily because of legality. He's 19, this cop pushed him to his aggression and scared teen, he acted. The adult with full grown faculties doesn't want to answer for not deescalating but he wants to be a victim for his weak body going against a child!"

Overall, Njoroge has attracted widespread sympathy and it can all be tied to Kenyans' wholesome dissatisfaction with police excesses including bribery demands, brutal violence, unjust arrests, impunity and trumped up charges.

"I'm a mother of three. My first born is 19, just like Njoroge. I would hate to see my son beating up a cop - but as a father, if he would, and provided me with concrete reasons for his actions, I would understand," Regina Mwangi, an X user, posted.

"We've heard of the many atrocities that Kenya police commit against civilians but we never see the kind of condemnation we are witnessing in Njoroge's case. Looks like, finally, the chicken came home to roost!"

Already, Kenyans have found a new angle to get mad at - the fact that the prosecution appears to have added a few other crimes onto Njoroge's case, including robbery of the officer's Samsung phone and other valuables.

Reacting to a tweet from the office of the director of public prosecutions, which attracted hundreds of condemnations from Kenyans of all walks of life, activist Boniface Mwangi blasted the prosecution for attaching robbery to the case - even when that was not obviously the case.

"The whole country knows that Ian didn’t rob the police officer, and he was protesting the extortion unfortunately with fists and blows. @ODPP_KE will release mass murderers, terrorists, rapists, paedophiles and even economic thieves on bail but deny the young man. Shame on ODPP!" he tweeted.

Njoroge's case will continue to attract all manner of reactions and, ultimately, continue to open the lid on Kenyan police's conduct, their cell treatment, violent arresting procedures and unreasonable bribery demands. 

As his case appears to get uglier by the day, Kenyans also appear to be united in this everlasting quote from American civil rights icon Al Sharpton. He said; "We are not anti-police. We are anti-police brutality."