Nairobi city askaris to be re-trained

By James Mwangi

Nairobi, Kenya: The Nairobi County Assembly has passed a law that requires retraining of the city county askaris and reorganisation of the City Inspectorate Department.

The law also seeks to weed out the fake askaris soliciting money from traders.

The motion moved by Eastleigh North Ward Representative Osman Adow will also see all the county by-laws reviewed to conform with the Constitution.

“Enforcement of city by-laws by county askaris is often characterised by arbitrary arrests and harassment of Nairobi residents. Such cases expose the county government to costly litigation from affected residents,” stated Adow.

Members of the Assembly led by Majority Chief Whip David Mberia also called for the vetting of the County Chief of Security Francis Munyambu and all the commanders under him.

The new law requires that the askaris produce notices or court orders before demolishing any illegal structures in the city and carry out arrests and such demolitions with respect.

“We will be making laws here and if we will entrust them on the same askaris, who don’t know laws, then we will be doing zero work,” said Mberia.

He claimed that he was sexually harassed by a female askari in January this year.