Outrage as Kisumu County pick-up truck drags woman on the tarmac

A woman was hanging behind a speeding pickup, with her lower limbs on the tarmac. Behind in pursuit were bodaboda operators hooting as bystanders watched helplessly.

And about 300 metres later, a bruised Beatrice Magolo dropped off from the Kisumu County enforcement vehicle, right at the gate of Kisumu Central Police Station. Her skirt and innerwear were torn on the left side revealing bruised hips.

Inhumanly, the County Askaris again frog-marched her to the report desk at the police station, asking the officers to book her in for flouting County by-laws which prohibit hawking on specified streets.

“The officers declined to book me in, asking me to go and seek treatment, while my son was booked into the cells,” said Magolo as she left the police station Wednesday.

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According to Ms Magolo, 38, she was at Angáwa Street, heading to Kisumu Main Bus Terminus when a group of men pounced on her.

“I was not aware of their presence, so when several hands held me, I tried to turn and see what was happening but it was not possible. They handled me inappropriately and tried to bundle me into the back of the pickup,” she said.

As Magolo tried to resist, other hawkers and bodaboda operators noticed the melee and surge towards the scene, forcing the pickup driver to speed off.

One askari held Magolo’s right arm tightly, leaving her to hang from the truck with her lower limbs in contact with the brittle tarmac as onlookers watched in dismay.

Her 22-year-old son, who had responded to her cry, was also bundled into the car, and locked up at Central Police Station.

On social media, Kenyans vented their anger, calling on the county government to hold the officers accountable.

“This is impunity, and the County Government of Kisumu must be held responsible,” Michael Odongo Ojuang’wrote on Facebook.

“I have watched this clip in total disapproval of the inhumane handling of our hawkers by the County Government Askaris. This is totally unacceptable and the rogue askaris must be brought to book and account for their violation of fundamental human rights,” Oluoch Koseroh reacted to the viral video on Facebook.

The action by the askaris exposed the harsh reality that hawkers, transport operators, and residents of Kisumu City have been undergoing in the hands of the enforcement officers.

The incident comes at a time security stakeholders have called on the Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security Dr. Fred Matiangí to rein in rogue county askaris through laws which would regulate their qualifications, hiring, training, and holding them accountable for their actions.

According to Usalama Reforms Forum head of Secretariat Jacob Atiang, due to lack of appropriate laws, it has been difficult to categorise the county askaris as either private or national security, hence difficult to regulate them.

“We have been receiving lots of complaints on the conduct of the county askaris, and we have been trying to engage the relevant entities in a bid to push for holistic security reforms. It should be clear that security involves the protection of lives and property, which is not reflected by the actions of the county askaris,” said Atiang.

A press statement from the County Office of Public Communications shifted the blame on the woman whom they accused of hanging on the vehicle.

“The City askaris were on routine duties to clear the streets of hawkers who had long been directed to vacate the CBD. When they reached the area near Naivash Supermarket, they found a group of hawkers who dispersed and ran away to avoid arrests, “read the statement in part.

It went on: “One female hawker, who was selling lemons, however allegedly refused to leave.  She is said to have confronted the Askaris who had confiscated her lemons. As the pick-up carrying the askaris sped off, she tried to cling onto it in a bid to salvage her wares. As the woman tried to fight off the County security officers, a group of boda boda riders joined the drama and started pelting the security officials with stones, forcing the driver who had been hit by stones by a mob, to speed off to safety. The woman refused to let go and continued to cling into the vehicle.”

The statement indicated that the County officials drove into the police station where armed officers used teargas to disperse the mob and that some county askaris and their driver were also injured during the fracas.

“It is important to note that the Acting City manager, Mr Abala Wanga, has today afternoon met the injured female hawker identified as Beatrice Atieno to allocate her a stall at the Chichwa Market so that she can move out of the streets. But we appeal to members of the public and traders to respect the City by-laws.  We appeal to members of the public to help us build a city in which everybody while enjoying their rights, also respect other people’s rights because this city belongs to all of us,” the statement read in part.