Kenya police kill more during curfew than COVID-19

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – The Kenyan police have killed 12 people in an attempt to enforce a dawn to dusk curfew in the wake of coronavirus.

This figure is greater than the death toll from the pandemic in the country which stands at 11.

Wilfred Olal, a rights activist, confirmed the deaths to Anadolu Agency.

“The deaths have been there, it is around 15 but we are still verifying that is why we are going with 12 confirmed cases, the aspects of police brutality and beatings... it is in huge numbers that we cannot document.

"The people fear the police more than COVID-19, people are putting on masks not because they fear COVID-19, they fear that they would be arrested and extorted," Olal said.

He added that the directive to suspend courts in the wake of the outbreak has turned into a moneymaking scheme. Police arrest people and charge them with hefty fines as they cannot be challenged in the court.

George Musamali, a security analyst based in Nairobi, told Anadolu Agency: "This is a new situation in Kenya, we are facing a generation that has never been in a curfew, the challenge we are facing right now is that the police are using brutal force in enforcing a curfew that is not security related but health-related.”

"We have had several people claiming that their kin have been killed by the police in the process of enforcing the curfew and very many casualties," he added.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Thursday announced $47 million to be injected into a newly formed emergency fund for coronavirus, bringing the total amount sent to all 47 counties in the country to $94 million.