DEATH SQUADS IN POLICE UNIFORM - A GLOBAL PHENOMENON THAT ONLY HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISM AND CIVIL RIGHTS AWARENESS CAN ELIMINATE.

I read with horror, thousands of miles away about the grisly murder that rocked my birthplace in Awasi town the other day. The murder of young Atito, in a most senseless manner by thugs in Police uniform defied common logic and conspicuously brought out the animal in all of us.

I may not have known the young man personally but the mere fact that this senseless murder took place right in my village and without provocation, right inside his home and at night, reminded me of the several unexplained murders that have rocked the cities of Nairobi, Johannesburg, London, New York, and Sao Paolo in recent history.

What made this murder most foul and gruesome was that it took place in a remote dusty town that hardly boasts the sophistication and crime levels of cities found in South America, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa. It also made another point- that none among us is safe anywhere, should the assassins decide to come after our lives. In other words it could have been me, you or any body else in Kapenguria, Kimilili, Kinangop, Koibatek, Maragua, Malindi, Migori, Suna, Suba, Longisa, Lumbwa, Londiani or Gatundu village.

Which brings me to my next point about the men in blue the world over and their penchant for brutality against the very people they are trained to protect.

The racist brutal beating of one black man called Rodney King in the city of Los Angeles by white policemen and subsequent acquittal of the same police officers by a white jury sent the city of Los Angeles in flames by an enraged black community. The damage that the riots caused to the city and the racial scar it left in the memory of the people of Los Angeles over ten years ago still lingers to this day.

During the South African trying periods of apartheid era, police brutality and deaths of black Sowetans including the massacre of school children in the 1976 riots was a way of life.

In South America, police have been known to shoot street children as a way of cleaning the streets of unwanted urchins.

Back home in Kenya, so often, from the days of the Starehe Boys police reserve,
Officer Shaw, many people, including university students have been gunned down and later branded car jackers and dangerous robbers. In most cases, after such senseless fatal shootings, the police have been allowed to conduct investigations in to their own killings.

At one point a minority race in Kenya almost singe handedly dominated what was known as the police reservists division. This community went on a shooting spree and killed hundreds of Kenyans in cold blood under the guise that they were fighting crime. No inquest was ever instituted to investigate these so-called crime busters' activities.

The murder of Atito raises many questions; some of which it is possible have been asked but for which answers may never come now or in the future. Yes it is possible that the men in uniform who went to Atito's home could have been real thugs in uniform and armed with guns. Yes, it is also true that Kenyan police have in the recent past been accused of hiring out their uniforms and guns in return for a share of the loot from known criminals. At times, the very police have formed terror gangs, some times in cahoots with local criminals that know and understand the local terrain. Yes, anything and everything is possible with the current police force we have in Kenya. Therefore the murder of Atito is the responsibility of the police force in Nyando, whichever way one would like to look at it. The thugs that gunned him down in cold blood could have come from Ahero, Awasi, Boya, Chemelil, Miwani or Muhoroni police stations, or an assortment of all of the above.

The few years that Awasi has had a Police Station; there was relative peace only because the then OCPD in Nyando, Chief Inspector Opiyo was an honest and a professional man. He never tolerated laxity, ineptitude, negligence or conflict of interest among his officers. He supervised the stations and police posts in his jurisdiction.

As soon as he left, police officers started indulging in matatu business, wholesale business- selling cement and timber, constructing warehouses, running beer halls and, rumor has it, that some of them even set up joint chang'aa breweries with local entrepreneurs!

Therefore, the killing of young Atito could possibly have been an act of revenge arising from business rivalry or a business deal gone sour.

When Paul Olando was the District Commissioner in Awasi and Opiyo was his OCPD, such police indiscipline, brutality and open involvement in business and criminal activities was unheard of. Because to do so would mean that they would not manage the matatu menace in the district and neither could they control illicit brewing, disorder and petty crimes, as they would be part of the syndicate.

Since Olando and Opiyo left the scene, the people of Awasi claim to have been left at the mercy of the law enforcement agency. It has been extortion, intimidation and gun-law galore.

If the Awasi killing has any lessons for the rest of the country, it is that this government has shortchanged us on the sanctity of human life. It has shortchanged us on a working justice system. It has shortchanged us on equality before the law!

How long shall Kenyans continue to die shameless deaths at the hands of paid public servants yet be unable do anything about it?

How can rampant corruption and brutality continue unabated so soon after police salaries were hiked at the expense of starving millions of jobless Kenyans, not to mention the hiring of General Ali from the military ostensibly to reform and instill discipline in this discredited force?

The point the Awasi residents' riots made was that this brutality needs rapid and forceful response. Yes the police may have the guns and the law behind them but then the courage of a community determined to change its condition can cause positive change in the entire nation.

It may be recalled that at the height of land clashes of the early 1990s, then believed to have been instigated by the Kanu regime at the time, the belligerents from the Rift Valley that invaded farms owned by the Luo Community in Muhoroni, Songhor, Fort Tenan and Koru sugar belt lived to regret when in broad day light, the warriors of Awasi invaded villages bordering Nyando District inside Rift Valley and punished the invaders most severely. After that retaliation, there was never another land clashes incident anywhere in Nyanza.

For those forces of evil that may want top disturb the peace and tranquility at Awasi, it is wise to remember that the residents of this region have lived with the enemy and fought running battles for four hundred years since the time of their local biblical equivalent of Samson of the city of Jericho, Lwanda Magere.

These people are hardened soldiers that find it difficult to run away from a battle no matter how powerful the enemy may be. They never shy away from dying like heroes in the battlefield for a just cause they believe in. The more reason the law enforcement agencies based in the district must act swiftly with fairness to bring the perpetrators of this last evil deed to book.

The effort to bring about understanding between the residents and the provincial administration has to be spearheaded by a proactive and visionary political leadership both at the local level and at the parliamentary level. Any lack of sensible political leadership as is apparent now can only worsen the situation. And that leadership must accelerate the building of strategic roads like the Katito Awasi by- pass, effective and accountable use of local taxation and efforts to attract investors in the town so that job opportunities can be availed to a growing number of youth in the district.

This leadership has to be provided on the ground, not from Nairobi or Kisumu. This leadership must be devoid of petty clannism or village mentality. We are all one district and each constituency must complement the other. This is the kind of leadership we would want to see MPs Peter Odoyo, Opon Nyamunga and Ayiecho Olweny provide for the people of Nyando.

The writer is executive director of Infotrack, marketing and media consultants, Kenya. Discuss this article in Club Afrika Forums and/or comment below.

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