YVONNE'S TAKE: Bandits or policemen?

Lately, we have witnessed a spate of crime and insecurity that is enough to get us worried. From one prison break to another, an alleged or attempted bank robbery that finds the robber or robbers engaged in a shoot out for hours captured on camera, with no arrests yet.

Then we have seen the disappearances like that of security analyst Mwenda Mbijiwe whose whereabouts remain unknown, and then that of horn of Africa commentator Abdiwahab Sheikh, who was thankfully found alive. The list is endless.

Something else that has me concerned is the abductions that happen in broad daylight, allegedly by security agents. From Elgiva Bwire’s lawyer Hassan Nandwa, to an Ethiopian businessman who was taken in the full presence of a traffic policeman right in the middle of the street in Nairobi, in full glare of a gathered crowd. His pleas to onlookers to record the incident didn’t seem to perturb those who were ‘arresting’ him.

Similarly, lawyer Hassan Nandwa was picked up after security agents searched his house claiming to be looking for his client Elgiva Bwire. Thereafter he went missing. He was later to be found dumped but alive in Mwingi town. To date, we do not know what happened to him during his abduction. I call it an abduction because I am not sure that was an arrest.

You see when one is arrested, it is by security agents who identify themselves, take you into custody, tell you why you are being arrested and why you are being questioned. Thereafter, one is either charged in court 24 hours later or set free. In serious cases such as terrorism, the police even issue a statement.

Now in the cases I have mentioned, none of this has happened. And this is worrying. This is because we have seen this before, and it has not ended well. I need not remind you of the case of Willy Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda and their taxi driver Joseph Muiruri and how their bodies found in a river.

So, what’s an ordinary Kenyan to make of security agents abducting people in broad daylight? And even if the authorities were to claim that those who have conducted the abductions were not in fact police officers, then shouldn’t this worry them even more? That there are thugs out there, posing as police officers, bravely committing crimes in broad daylight? Pray tell, how safe are we as citizens then?

The scenes we have seen recently are akin to a bandit country, where the rule of law has been suspended. With each man for himself and everyone taking a stand to protect themselves. A jungle country of sorts. Except that kenya is not a bandit country. Or so we think.

We like to call ourselves a democratic country, one that follows the rule of law and abides by the principles of natural justice. A bastion in the region, showing and leading the way. But the recent events should worry us all. Not least because I know these events are just a few of the ones that come to light.

The truth is, this happens to more kenyans than we can report everyday. Kenyans who may not be prominent enough to get the limelight. Just ask organisations that work in this space like the independent medico-legal unit, (IMLU) and others who chronicle these cases almost everyday.

So, what’s my take tonight? It is this. There is nothing wrong in security services conducting an arrest. It is in fact their job. But they must do their job right. Otherwise, there is no difference between them and the criminals they purport to keep us safe from.