Is MUSALIA MUDAVADI still living in the stone age era? - IPOA asks after he says there is no police brutality in Kenya

Saturday, April 27, 2024 - The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has slammed Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, over his remarks on police brutality in Kenya.

Mudavadi, who is also the country's foreign affairs cabinet Secretary, made the remarks during the 44th ordinary session of the African Union Executive Council of Foreign Affairs in Addis Ababa.

He was responding to the African Commission on Human and People Rights' concerns about the human rights violations by Kenya's security agents.

"I articulated Kenya's response to an assertion by the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, staunchly defending Kenya's human rights track record and the integrity of our police service," Mudavadi posted on Facebook shortly after defending Kenya's security agents.

But IPOA commissioner, John Waigango, sharply differed with Mudavadi, dismissing it as a typical political statement.

“I don’t agree with that statement. We need to remove politics from these issues because we have heard Cabinet Secretaries transferring OCSs from stations. 

"We don’t take the statements seriously. What a politician will say outside there is not exactly what we look at," Waiganjo said.

Human rights agencies put Kenyan police on the spot over deaths and the use of excess force during the 2023 nationwide protests championed by Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition leaders.

Amnesty International indicated that police had killed at least 30 protesters and called on IPOA to ensure the perpetrators of extrajudicial killings are arrested and prosecuted.

The Kenyan DAILY POST