A police officer who killed two women in Kisii on Thursday will be held personally responsible, the government has said.
Terming the incident a case of police brutality, Kisii County Commissioner Kula Hache assured residents of the immediate prosecution of the officer involved.
The two women, identified as Irene Kerubo who had just graduated from Sigalagala College and Edinah Osoro, who used to sell fresh vegetables at Daraja Mbili market, were killed on Thursday evening after a scuffle between the police and boda boda operators.
The police had to call for reinforcements from Nyamira, Kericho and Kisumu when riots broke out in Kisii town following the killings.
Demonstrating youth barricaded the Kisii-Migori road for four hours before making their way into the town’s centre where they vandalised a shoe shop.
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Several business stalls at Daraja Mbili were also burnt down early yesterday before a combined contingent of Kenya Police and Quick Response Team (QRT) from Kericho and Kisumu restored calm.
Kisii Deputy Governor Joash Maangi and the county commissioner held a meeting of the county’s security committee yesterday and called for calm.
“We have established that the victims were business women at the Daraja Mbili market. We appeal for calm as investigations in to killings are conducted,” Ms Hache said.
Maangi later visited the families of the victims and dispelled rumours that the Deputy President William Ruto’s security were responsible for the shootings.
The Deputy President had just left Kisii after presiding over celebrations marking the International Day for the Old Persons at Gusii Stadium.
Maangi said the officers were on patrol when the shooting occurred. “A scuffle ensued between boda boda operators but we are yet to establish what exactly led to the killings,” he said.
