Crowds of protesters in Kenya’s capital in Nairobi, staged a demonstration against police brutality demanding for justice for the victims of incessant killings by police officers which mostly comprise of young people and mothers who carried signs with the names of friends, neighbours and sons killed in police operations in recent years.
They held placards with them reading slogans such as: “Our life is priceless”, “Save our future” and “Never again”.
Kenya’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) reported last week it had received 87 complaints against police since the dusk-to-dawn curfew and heightened security measures were imposed on March 27.
The rally on Monday today came days after a police watchdog said officers were involved in the killing of at least 15 people since authorities imposed a coronavirus curfew in late March.
Kenya’s police force is often accused by rights groups of using excessive force and carrying out unlawful killings, especially in poor neighbourhoods.
It described the case of 13-year-old Yassin Hussein Moyo who died in the capital, Nairobi, on March 31 after being shot while standing on his balcony as police forced people into their homes on the street below.
President Uhuru Kenyatta apologised for the violence in early April after declaring the enforcement of the curfew and ensured that peace will surely reign. Africa-News reports.