APs assault chief, defy boss's transfer order

By PHILIP MUASYA

Kitui, Kenya: Ugly drama unfolded at Nyanyaa AP camp in Mwingi Central District in Kitui County on Sunday, after junior officers defied their boss’s order to leave the camp and be posted elsewhere.  

Mwingi Central AP commander Hussein Ali was stunned when two Administration Police Constables he had gone to replace told him off and vowed not to leave the camp.

The AP boss in the company of area chief Samuel Maithya had gone to replace the two after they reportedly assaulted area assistant chief on Saturday.

 In a clear case of defiance,  APCs Nzomo and Syengo, who are accused of assaulting the assistant chief became unruly and refused to leave. Those who had gone to replace them were forced to break into their houses and remove their belongings after they defied an order to move out.

It was a spectacle as the junior officers, who were seen making frantic phone calls directed harsh words towards their baffled commander even as he ordered them to board a police van in vain. He later left without them.

“It is funny how junior officers can defy their boss. They told him on his face they won’t move out,” said a puzzled area chief who had accompanied the AP boss.

 On Saturday Nyanyaa Assistant Chief Gideon Kimanzi recorded a statement at Mwingi Police Station after allegedly being savagely attacked by the two officers.

 Speaking to The Standard after recording the statement, Kimanzi said he was accosted by the two while on his way to his office. They attempted to handcuff him before settling on him with kicks and slaps as he tried to defend himself.

“I’m thoroughly baffled by this act. These are officers we are supposed to jointly work with to ensure law and order but they turn out to my tormentors,” he lamented.

He identified his attackers as APCs Nzomo and Syengo. The genesis of the attack was a case the APs were handling before it was taken over by the assistant chief who then forwarded it to the area chief.

The AP boss confirmed to The Standard the two had defied his orders to leave the camp but added that they had no choice.

 “I have told them they are not wanted there and I have already replaced them,” said Ali.

The AP camp was established barely four months ago to bolster security in the area after a gang of machete wielding men brutally killed 14 villagers in July last year.