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Deaths in custody of two brothers fuel anger over Covid enforcement in Kenya
NAIROBI, Kenya — Scrutiny of police enforcement of coronavirus rules in Kenya has gained urgency after the deaths in custody of two brothers who were detained on suspicion of breaking a curfew.
The deaths have set off a fresh national reckoning over police brutality, particularly in enforcing Covid rules, as a fourth wave of the pandemic hits the country.
The brothers — Benson Njiru Ndwiga, 22, and Emmanuel Marura Ndwiga, 19 — were last seen alive on Aug. 1 in the town of Kianjokoma, in Embu County, eastern Kenya, where they were detained for being outdoors after the 10 p.m. nationwide curfew. Relatives found their bodies at a local morgue three days later.
An autopsy found that the brothers had died of head and rib injuries. Officers said the two men had fallen from a moving police vehicle, but the family and the public have doubted that the injuries were consistent with the police account.
The deaths of the brothers, who were students, led to demonstrations in Embu County. One person was killed when anti-riot officers shot at protesters and a police vehicle was set on fire. The brothers’ funeral on Friday attracted giant crowds and prompted calls for accountability.
On Monday, the inspector general of the police, Hilary N. Mutyambai, said that the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, a watchdog organization, had completed investigations into the brothers’ deaths and forwarded the findings to the national prosecutor. “All the officers have been suspended with immediate effect to pave way for prosecution,” Mr. Mutyambai said on Twitter, without naming the officers suspected of misconduct in the case.
Fred Matiang’i, the interior minister, met with the brothers’ familyand said that the government would “stop at nothing to ensure justice is served.”
Coronavirus cases are surging in Kenya, driven largely by the more contagious Delta variant. The East African nation is one of four countries on the continent undergoing a fourth wave of the pandemic, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kenya has confirmed more than 220,000 total cases and 4,340 deaths from the virus so far, according to a New York Times tracker. In the four weeks ended Aug. 8, new case reports were about 30 percent higher than in the preceding period, the Africa C.D.C. reported, while the number of deaths increased by 56 percent. As in many places in Africa, vaccination is slow. In Kenya, only about 746,000 people — about 1.4 percent of the population of 53 million — are fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health.
Source:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/16/world/africa/kenya-covid-enforcement-brothers-death.html
https://shahidinews.co.ke/2021/08/1...pended-file-to-be-forwarded-to-dpp-mutyambai/
NAIROBI, Kenya — Scrutiny of police enforcement of coronavirus rules in Kenya has gained urgency after the deaths in custody of two brothers who were detained on suspicion of breaking a curfew.
The deaths have set off a fresh national reckoning over police brutality, particularly in enforcing Covid rules, as a fourth wave of the pandemic hits the country.
The brothers — Benson Njiru Ndwiga, 22, and Emmanuel Marura Ndwiga, 19 — were last seen alive on Aug. 1 in the town of Kianjokoma, in Embu County, eastern Kenya, where they were detained for being outdoors after the 10 p.m. nationwide curfew. Relatives found their bodies at a local morgue three days later.
An autopsy found that the brothers had died of head and rib injuries. Officers said the two men had fallen from a moving police vehicle, but the family and the public have doubted that the injuries were consistent with the police account.
The deaths of the brothers, who were students, led to demonstrations in Embu County. One person was killed when anti-riot officers shot at protesters and a police vehicle was set on fire. The brothers’ funeral on Friday attracted giant crowds and prompted calls for accountability.
On Monday, the inspector general of the police, Hilary N. Mutyambai, said that the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, a watchdog organization, had completed investigations into the brothers’ deaths and forwarded the findings to the national prosecutor. “All the officers have been suspended with immediate effect to pave way for prosecution,” Mr. Mutyambai said on Twitter, without naming the officers suspected of misconduct in the case.
Fred Matiang’i, the interior minister, met with the brothers’ familyand said that the government would “stop at nothing to ensure justice is served.”
Coronavirus cases are surging in Kenya, driven largely by the more contagious Delta variant. The East African nation is one of four countries on the continent undergoing a fourth wave of the pandemic, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kenya has confirmed more than 220,000 total cases and 4,340 deaths from the virus so far, according to a New York Times tracker. In the four weeks ended Aug. 8, new case reports were about 30 percent higher than in the preceding period, the Africa C.D.C. reported, while the number of deaths increased by 56 percent. As in many places in Africa, vaccination is slow. In Kenya, only about 746,000 people — about 1.4 percent of the population of 53 million — are fully vaccinated, according to the Ministry of Health.
Source:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/16/world/africa/kenya-covid-enforcement-brothers-death.html
https://shahidinews.co.ke/2021/08/1...pended-file-to-be-forwarded-to-dpp-mutyambai/