Section:GDN 1N PaGe:25 Edition Date:190807 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 6/8/2019 16:52 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
Wednesday 7 August 2019 The Guardian •World^25
KenyaRod Austin
KiberaA
t a meeting, police and
community members
in Kibera, Africa’s
largest slum, in
Nairobi, Kenya, try to
fi nd common ground.
Crime is high and mainly
unreported. A young man asks
why offi cers take bribes and extort
money from the community. “That
is corruption,” Insp Nick Sulwe,
of Kibera’s administration police,
responds. “To eliminate it you
must comply with the law. If you’re
arrested, you will more than likely
pay not to be arrested.” Another
resident wants to know why offi cers
hire out their guns to gangs. “That’s
misconduct, such people are not fi t
to be policem en,” Sulwe says.
The people here want answers
about the number of killings by
police, “extrajudicial executions”
as they are known locally.
Sulwe provides an explanation :
disillusionment. “If you tell me
someone is a thief, they rob and rape
women, and you ask me to arrest
him – but with no evidence – the
judge will ask for evidence. If thereis no evidence, he is released and
comes back to commit more crime.”
A young woman refers to the case
of Carilton Maina , a 23-year-old
allegedly shot dead by police months
earlier. She wants the inspector
to explain why suspects were not
simply taken into custody. “You are
just killing us,” she tells him.
Maina was a football-loving
student who had studied at Leeds
University. Last December, as he
was heading home in the early hours
after watching a football match with
friends in Kibera , an encounter with
police resulted in a chase. Maina
was shot four times in the chest and
once in the head. Authorities say he
was “part of a gang terrorising local
residents”, which is strongly refuted
by those who knew him.
“When police offi cers raid a place
... trust me, they are not wrong,”
responds Sulwe. “There’s something
there, there are criminals there.
Trust me, if we don’t kill these
people, they will kill you .”
Figures relating to the number of
killings last year vary signifi cantly:
one organisation puts it at 121,
another at 267 – which would mark a
signifi cant increase on the previous
year when there were an estimated
152 killings. The government saysgovernment simply struggling to
maintain police discipline? Or is it
turning a blind eye to the actions of
certain offi cers, to focus instead on
gang crime and public disorder?
“The problem is complex,”
says Irũngũ Houghton, head of
Amnesty International in Kenya.
“Most offi cers work within the law.
However, it appears that a few have
given up on the judicial system,
arguing that arresting suspects for
serious crime is futile as many are
found not guilty and the prisons are
full. They take matters into their
own hands. ”‘You are just killing us’ Police act as
judge and jury in Africa’s largest slum
There are approximately 2.5
million slum dwellers in Nairobi, two
thirds of the capital’s population.
Kibera is the largest slum, where
each night residents face the
savagery of gangs who rob, rape and
extort, undeterred by police.
In addition, every four years
political violence breaks out in the
slum, as electioneering politicians
bid for popularity. “During election
time, politicians come into slums
like Kibera, they put Kikuyu
against Luyha , Nubians versus
Luo , encouraging violence ,” says
Kennedy Odede, founder of Kibera-
based charity Shofco. “Politically
people are used to kill each other.
They come here and leave you killing
your brother with pangas [machetes]
whilst they go and drink champagne
in the Serena hotel. When Kibera
cries, the whole of Kenya cries. ”
In 2007, post-election violence
claimed more than 1,000 lives across
Kenya. In August 2017 , 24 people
died after the presidential vote,
including a baby, reportedly struck
numerous times by a baton when
offi cers entered a home “looking for
protesters”, discharging tear gas and
beating the occupants. Earlier this
year, an inquest ruled that 36 offi cers
should be held liable for the death.
In 2017, Kenya’s police force
recorded 77,992 crimes ; in 2018,
there were 88,268 recorded crimes,
a 13% increase across a population of
52 million.
But few crimes are formally
registered in Kibera. Instead, police
admit, offi cers maintain a “black
book” of off enders – and once your
name is in this book it is reportedly
diffi cult to have it removed.
“If we fi nd that someone is
committing burglary we go and
see their parents and give them
a warning. If the person does not
respond, then when we catch up
with them we act,” says Sulwe. He
would not be drawn into explaining
what “act” meant. Arrangements
were made to interview the
superintendent in charge of policing
Kibera but he later declined unless
we off ered payment.
For their part, Sulwe and his
offi cers try to interact with Kibera’s
residents. The former teacher
attends community meetings and is
optimistic that police and residents
can work together to resolve local
disputes and reduce crime.
A spokesperson for Kenya’s police
sa ys there is no policy or directive
that would support unlawful killings
and guilty offi cers are punished.
“We strive for the highest standards
of professionalism and discipline
amongst offi cers,” the spokesperson
says. “Unfounded utterances
against the police not only dents a
good image but has the potential to
discourage would-be investors and
visitors to our country.”it is making an eff ort to weed out
rogue offi cers.
Data collectors monitor police
statistics, news and social media
reports, but struggle to obtain
accurate information from
Kenya’s 10 slums. Many killings go
unreported, or the deceased are
buried by relatives who say nothing
for fear of reprisals.
The killings raise fundamental
questions about the conduct of
the Kenya n police service. Has the
government given certain offi cers a
mandate to kill rather than bringing
suspects before the courts? Is the‘When offi cers raid
they are not wrong ...
Trust me, if we don’t
kill these people,
they will kill you’Insp Nick Sulwe
Kibera administration police A mural at
an entrance to
Kibera calls for
justice for the
death of a former
Leeds student,
Carilton Maina,
chased by police
PHOTOGRAPH:
ROD AUSTIN/
THE GUARDIAN▼ A Kenyan mother is inconsolable as
offi cers take away the body of her son,
allegedly shot in the head by police
PHOTOGRAPH: MARCO LONGARI/GETTYРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS