Opinion: Campaign against extra-judicial killings welcome

PHOTO:COURTESY

Extra-judicial killings in Kenya are not a new phenomenon. Indeed, the civil society has decried the killing and disappearance of not less than 300 individuals since 2006.

For a country that professes democracy and the exercise of human rights, this is worrying.

It is welcome, therefore, that the civil society and the police are coming together to launch a campaign against extra-judicial killings.

The vice happens because of lost faith in the justice system.

That the arresting officer doesn’t have faith in the prosecution to deliver a conviction; neither does the prosecutor believe that the judge will hand down a fair sentence.

Granted, there have been far-reaching reforms in the Judiciary. The courts are less corrupt and swift and, no doubt, justice has been delivered in some of the cases.

However, it is disheartening that despite huge investments in police equipment and their welfare (training, insurance, medical scheme and housing), the police remain the weakest link in the administration of justice.

So efforts such as this bring hope that the police will one day change for the better. Constitutional rights to life and fair trial cannot be taken away by security agents bearing in mind only the courts have the power to establish guilt or lack of it.