NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 27 – The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has filled a Contempt of Court Application against the Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja on account of deploying masked and hooded police on Tuesday when it presented a Petition to the Office of the President.
LSK in their application said that ununiformed police officers unlawfully interfered with persons who were exercising their rights under Article 37 of the Constitution by presenting a petition on 61 deceased and 14 disappeared Kenyans to the Office of the President.
It says this it is in defiance of Justice Bahati Mwamuye’s Court Order dated 14th August 2024 that ordered Police Officers ought to display their service numbers and always remain identifiable at all time when dealing with persons exercising their rights under Article 37.
“The 4th and 5th Respondents have since violated these orders and continued to deploy unidentifiable, masked police officers and uniformed police officers with hidden concealed service numbers in disregard of the pronouncement of this Honorable Court specifically,” read the court papers.
LSK is seeking orders that Police IG and Nairobi Police Commander Adamson Bungei be convicted of the offense of contempt of court and be sentenced to six months imprisonment.
It now wants the court to order the two to report to the Commissioner of Prisons at the Nairobi Remand Prison in Industrial area or Kamiti Maximum Prison, within 14 days of the court’s order and to begin serving their term of imprisonment for contempt of court.
“In default the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Interior and National Administration to enforce the order and to take all steps to ensure that the 4th (Adamson Bungei) and 5th (Police IG) Respondent serve their sentence,” read the application.
On August 14, the High Court directed the Inspector General of Police to ensure that police officers deployed to contain protest are in their uniforms with name tags affixed in line with standing orders.
High Court Judge Bahati Mwamuye directed that police officers must not “in any way hide or obscure their face so as to render them difficult to identify or unidentifiable”.
Mwauye also ordered the police not to obscure the identification, registration or markings of any vehicle while dealing with persons who is or planning on assembling, demonstrating, picketing or petitioning.
“Pending inter-partes hearing and determination a conservatory order is therefore issued that all uniformed police officers acting under direction and support of the National Police Service shall at all times affix a nametag or identifiable service number in a clear visible part of their uniform when engaging with persons who are who is or planning on assembling, demonstrating, picketing or petitioning and shall not remove or obscure the same,” the court directed in interim orders.
Source: capitalfm
