Police now biggest threat to public in fight against virus

A police officer and a trader at Bamburi in Mombasa. [Omondi Onyango, Standard]

Kenya’s security agencies, set up to preserve and protect the lives of citizens, have come under heavy scrutiny since the announcement of the dusk-to-dawn curfew.

From brutal and sometimes fatal beatings, to shootings, harassment, bribery to let busloads of people across county boundaries, the police service is fast becoming the weakest link in the country’s fight against the virus. This is in direct contradiction to a presidential directive that implored officers to handle those who are found to flout these regulations reasonably.