The Director of Public Prosecutions has approved the arrest and prosecution of a police officer, Duncan Ndiema Ndiwah, over the shooting of a 13-year-old boy in Huruma, Nairobi in March.
DPP Noordin Haji said this is in connection with the fatal shooting of Yassin Hussein Moyo at the balcony of his home on March 30, 2020.
On the fateful day, the teenager had been watching police enforce the 7 pm curfew with his mother and siblings when a stray bullet struck him in the stomach.
The boy’s father, Hussein Moyo Molte, was watching the news at a friend’s place nearby when he heard gunshots moments before his daughter called to tell him, “Yassin’s been shot, we were on the balcony, the police had a torch on us and then they fired shots,” he recounted.
Neighbors rushed Yassin to the Mama Lucy Hospital where he later succumbed to the gunshot wound.
“My child was shot on the balcony at home, he wasn’t even on the street. I support the curfew but how the policeman handled it was very wrong,” said Moyo.
Meanwhile, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) on Tuesday revealed that 15 Kenyans have been killed by police officers since the nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew was effected on March 27.
“After preliminary investigations, fifteen (15) deaths and thirty-one (31) incidents where victims sustained injuries have directly been linked to actions of police officers during the curfew enforcement,” said IPOA in a statement.
At the same time, DPP Noordin Haji said his office has received 80 cases of police brutality since October 2019.
Speaking during a webinar on Human Rights and Government Response Measures to COVID-19 Pandemic, Haji said his office is currently working with IPOA for a judicious expedition of the cases.
He also lauded IPOA but noted that the authority’s efforts were being hindered by limited human resource capacity.
IPOA has since dispatched Rapid Response teams to establish the circumstances that led to six other fatalities in the latest incidents.
These include the gunning down of a homeless man in Mathare, Nairobi on June 1, 2020, shooting of a woman at a police roadblock in Emali on May 31, 2020, the fatal shooting of three family members in Kwale on May 30, 2020, as well as two fatalities within Katanin Village, Kabiyet Sub-County, Nandi County on May 29, 2020.
“Upon conclusion of the investigations and pursuant to Section 6(a) of the Act, the Authority will make recommendations, including prosecution if criminal culpability is established on the part of the police officers involved,” said IPOA.
