Aston Lukoye
Inspector General of Police (IG) Japhet Koome has announced that investigations have been opened against a police officer who was captured on camera bashing and destroying the Azimio la Umoja media vehicle during protests on Thursday, March 30.
Speaking while addressing journalists at the Kenya School of Government, Koome apologized to journalists who sustained injuries inflicted by police while covering protests, arguing that it was not intentional.
He further assured that under his leadership, the media and the police would work together to promote the shared objective of serving Kenyans and maintaining law and order.
“It is not deliberate. We have no intention of injuring any of you, you are fellow Kenyans. I don’t derive any pleasure or anger from injuring fellow Kenyans but when the situation demands, I have a duty to ensure that there’s law and order in the country.
“You are able to transact messages for the sake of our economy. We must ensure that there’s free movement of the people and that is how we got into the situation we were in recently,” he stated.
Koome commends Raila Odinga
PHOTO/COURTESY
Koome also commended President William Ruto and Raila Odinga for reaching a compromise and ending the protests, which allowed the police to concentrate on one of their main responsibilities, preventing criminal activity in the nation.
“I thank the politicians, they pronounced themselves and called off the demonstrations, they are talking and we in the police service can now spend more time in crime intervention other than managing rioters’ situation,” he appreciated.
“Some of us have relatives and close friends who are journalists. I cannot wake up one day with the intention to harm you.”
The media vehicle was a part of the motorcade that took Raila from Embakasi to Nairobi, where he stopped at several locations to address crowds that were primarily made up of his devoted followers. The vehicle was carrying media teams and equipment.
