Policing is in dire need of makeover in Kenya

The murder of George Floyd, an African American man by American police has put the global focus on the police and their role in societies. Mr Floyd was killed by a white US police officer who knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Now there are calls in the US to disband the police force altogether and re-imagine policing anew.

There is a need to re-imagine the police force even outside the United States. In Kenya, cases of police brutality continue to be reported in the mainstream and social media channels. Within the first 10 days of the imposition of the curfew to combat Covid-19, six people had died at the hands of the police, according to Human Rights Watch.