Open letter on police extortion and extra-judicial killings

17th March 2011
Mathew Iteere
The Commissioner of Police Kenya Police Service
Vigilance House
P.O. Box NAIROBI

Dear Sir,

RE: OPEN LETTER ON POLICE EXTORTION AND EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS

We the undersigned organizations write to you over the existence of an extortion ring and an upsurge in extra-judicial killings perpetrated by members of the Kenya Police.

In the past 10 weeks we have received over ten such cases that follow the pattern of the following case of the late James Macharia and Paul Mwangi Wambui, who were gunned down by police officers at Dandora dumpsite:

The two deceased persons were well known as small scale businessmen involved in the purchase and resale of plastic from Dandora dumpsite among other persons also involved in the same trade. On 1st March 2011 at about 3:00pm, the two deceased persons were within the environs of the aforesaid dumpsite when a contingent of plain clothes policemen drove into the area with several unmarked vehicles. The said officers surrounded the deceased persons and started firing gunshots. The unarmed deceased persons, realizing that they were in danger, were spotted lifting up their hands in surrender. However, they were forcefully seized and frog-marched to another section of the dumpsite where they were shot several times thereby occasioning them fatal injuries.

Evidence in our possession indicate that the following well known police officers, from a unit supposedly posted in the Dandora region to curb organized and violent crime, were part of the contingent of officers involved in the summary execution:

1. Officer Cosmas Rotich Makero
2. Officer Sirma
3. Officer Ngure

The said officers are said to have ordered the members of the public to depart from the scene of crime as they shot in the air amidst protests that they had summarily executed the unarmed deceased persons without any justifiable cause. Post- mortem reports on the bodies of the two deceased, and others killed in the recent past, indicate the cause of death as ‘multiple organ injuries due to multiple gun shots at close range’

Extortion by Police Officers

Our investigations reveal that some time in October 2010, the above named officers, in the company of an Administration police officer from the environs of the aforesaid dumpsite known as Nur and another unidentified officer arrested one of the deceased persons, James Macharia in the presence of witnesses, fired a mock gunshot between their two heads to instill fear and took them to Kinyago police post. We are informed that instead of booking them in the Occurrence book, they wrote their names on a piece of paper, and shoved them into a room in the police post where after frisking their pockets and establishing that they had ATM cards, they asked them to give a bribe of Kshs.40,000 for their acquittal.

The two negotiated the amount and the deceased, James Macharia gave Kshs.10,000 to the officer named Rotich.. Subsequently, the officer asked for the deceased’s phone number and demanded that a negotiated sum of Kshs.2000 be sent to him by MPesa every week as “protection fees” to avoid being arrested again. Since his release to the time of his murder, the deceased (James Macharia) has been sending the Kshs.2000 to Officer Rotich’s number via MPesa every Saturday and the recipient confirmation identity message would always read as COSMAS ROTICH MAKERO which is the full name of the said officer. It is noteworthy to state that, the said officer would always call from the same phone number whenever there was a delay.

We are further informed that the said police officers are known to frequently detain their abductees in that police post by writing their names on pieces of paper and not booking them in the Occurrence Book. They are well known by the Officer in Charge of the said police post. They are also reputed to be using the same vehicles but alternately affixing different registration plates presumably to cover up for their atrocities in the Eastlands region.

Following our investigations, we conclude that the deceased persons were executed, by the officers named above who form an extortion racket in the region, on the basis of a longstanding deal gone sour.

Sir, it is unconscionable and unacceptable that such a trigger-happy extortion racket continues to operate unabated in this region harassing young and poor Kenyans seeking an honest living. We take note that not only have the police officers violated the deceased’s right to life safeguarded by section 26 of the Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Kenya is a State Party, but also committed the offence of murder as defined in the Penal Code.

We appeal to your office to intervene and ensure that these officers are arrested and charged for their illegal acts set out herein.

It is regrettable that such violations are thriving amidst commendable efforts by your office and that of the Police Reforms Implementation Task Force in institutionalizing the culture of police service to replace the brutality that has so often characterized the institution. Though, we are committed to supporting these efforts for reform, we believe that unless such violations perpetrated with impunity are countered we are unlikely to achieve the full realization of the reform objectives.

Dear Sir, we would like to state clearly that the buck stops at your desk and urge that you take the following actions:

1. Publicly declare the names of the officers who you allege to have interdicted over the Langata cold blooded murder of January 2011. We believe the same officers are running rogue out there and may be involved in the continuing killings;
2. Immediately arrest and charge the officers mentioned above over the murder of Macharia and Paul Mwangi;
3. Immediately arrest and charge the officer in charge of Kinyago police Post for complicity in extortion taking place in a room at the station,
4. Immediately institute a public inquiry on the following police stations as bases for extortion, abductions and murders by serving police officers: Kinyago, Kayole, Huruma and Kasarani, and make the findings known to the public;
5. Make a personal commitment about the safety of witnesses and family members of the deceased to facilitate testimony in these cases.

As we await your response we pose, “how many more Kenyans are you willing to oversee killed by rogue officers during your tenure?

We look forward to your response to this petition and action to ensure justice is done..

Yours sincerely

Peter Kiama
Executive Director
Independent Medico-Legal Unit

Tom Kagwe
Kenya Human Rights Commission

Odhiambo Oyoko
Acting Coordinator - RPP

Hassan Omar
Commissioner
Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission

Beatric Kamau
SOREC