Law Society of Kenya (LSK) President Faith Odhiambo has condemned the repeated use of police force against civilians, citing incidents of churches being tear-gassed and warning that Kenyans are growing increasingly restless over what she termed a lack of accountability within the National Police Service (NPS).
Speaking during an interview on Radio Generation on Monday, Odhiambo described the incidents as “a sad state of affairs that we continue to see,” noting that similar episodes had occurred previously.
“We saw even some time back last year, a different church being tear-gassed as well, and we’ve continued to raise concerns,” she said.
Odhiambo faulted the NPS for issuing public statements expressing regret while failing to take concrete action against officers responsible for the abuses.
She questioned the credibility of internal investigations that do not result in accountability. “We’ve seen the statement that has been issued now by the National Police Service, but they’re saying they’re getting into investigations. But after these so-called investigations, we are not seeing action, particularly officers being held accountable,” she said.
Emphasizing the principle of command responsibility, the LSK president demanded clarity on who authorizes police deployments.
“As much as you say you highly regret it, and you condemn it, but who sent them?” she asked.
“Someone must have deployed them, given them directions. We want to know which police station, who is the person in charge, and we want the regional commandant to give updates on who was deployed, why, and for what reason.”
Odhiambo warned that innocent citizens continue to bear the brunt of what she described as the misuse and abuse of power.
“Politics is politics; however, citizens should not be injured because of misuse or abuse of power,” she said, adding that there is growing concern that elements of the police service are being used for political ends.
She argued that this undermines the constitutional vision of an independent police service.
“The whole aim of having an independent National Police Service was to separate political influence from the work that the police should be doing,” Odhiambo said.
“Unless the police recognize that they are no longer a force but a service that is constitutionally embedded and will be held accountable, we will not see the relationship between the police and the people of Kenya bridging that gap.”
Odhiambo further claimed that the police are increasingly perceived as an appendage of the executive, a situation she said inevitably shifts public accountability to the Head of State.
“Because we continue to see the National Police Service acting like an appendage of the executive, then people will demand accountability, and it will start from the President,” she said.
She cited past instances where senior police leadership appeared to cross the line into political activity.
“There’s a difference between standing and giving security to the Head of State and getting involved in direct campaigns,” she noted, recalling occasions when the Inspector General was seen at political rallies.
According to Odhiambo, as long as the police are viewed as swaying “in accordance to the direction of the executive,” public trust will continue to erode and calls for accountability at the highest level will persist.
