They were raped by police, criminal gangs because of politics

 

Victims of election related violence gathered at Dandora Social Hall sharing their ordeals in the hands of criminal gangs and police They did it for over three hours. I was left unconscious, pregnant and infected with HIV- Former clinical officer

Misfortunes seem to follow Beatrice whenever elections are held and if whatever the 54-year-old has undergone is indeed true, then the grandmother is the epitome of resilience. 

During the elections in 2007, 2013 and this year, Beatrice says she was brutalised by police officers deployed to quell skirmishes in Dandora, the only place she calls home.

Beatrice was reportedly raped on two occasions, and lost a husband and grandson. The husband was allegedly sodomised by police officers who shot him dead while the grandson was butchered by a marauding mob that set ablaze part of her house.

And if that was not enough pain inflicted on her family, Beatrice’s younger siblings were also raped in an ordeal that sounds like something out of a horror movie.

Her first barbaric encounter with the cops was after the 2007 disputed presidential elections pitting Mwai Kibaki gainst ODM leader Raila Odinga- when unprecedented skirmishes erupted in many parts of the country, forcing police and military to intervene.

Beatrice says that she and her husband were in the Phase IV house they built together, when anti-riot police broke in, raped her, sodomised the husband and then killed him.

The cycle of pain recurred in 2013 after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared winner. There were pockets of violence and Dandora, where a heavy police presence was deployed, was not spared.

Beatrice by then had crossed over to neighbouring Uganda for a business trip. Some of the rowdy youth strayed into her house, raped her two sisters and butchered her grandson who tried to resist. The armed mob then set the house on fire.

“It happened this year again after elections when police officers broke into the house and demanded money. After ransacking the house and finding nothing, they raped me in turns leaving me for dead,” she alleges.

Beatrice is not alone. She is among dozens of women who for the first time, opened up at a post-trauma forum, pouring out their hearts at an event organised by AM4PEACE and held at Dandora Social Hall.

The victims of elections-related violence drawn from Dandora, Lucky Summer, Kariobangi, Korogocho, Huruma and Mathare shared their traumatic experiences in the presence of The Nairobian.

Because of security and confidentiality issues, as well as the stigma associated with rape, we cannot reveal the identities of the women who spoke at the forum. Most of them said they never lodged formal complaints with the police because the police cannot investigate themselves.

According to Betty Adera, a programme management specialist at AM4PEACE, the organisation has documented over 1,000 rape cases perpetrated in the city’s informal settlements after the August 8, 2017 polls.

“They elect to die in silence rather than report to police who never take action against their colleagues implicated in sexual assault cases,” says Betty.

Lawyer Judy Thongori believes the victims still have recourse to justice, noting that, “It is only that they don’t know what to do when caught in such circumstances”.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), which indicated that 37 people died over the same period, acknowledged that it has received complaints of sexual offences.

“We have received cases of sexual offences, which are still under investigation, but they are not in thousands,” said the commission’s vice chairperson George Morara.

Mike Wachira, the deputy director at the Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW), says his organisation, in conjunction with a certain consortium, is still collecting and compiling data on sexual offences committed after the August polls.

He urged victims to report to police, or if they cannot, lodge complaints with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) or the Witness Protection Agency (WPA). “They still have to file complaints with police, otherwise there shall be no proof that the police have refused to investigate. Should they feel unconformable, they can approach IPOA or WPA,” advised Wachira.

The women complained of unrestrained brutality and inhumane treatment perpetrated by police officers in front of relatives and children - some of whom were not spared.

James Mbugua, a psychology lecturer at Africa Nazarene University explains that in such circumstances, it becomes difficult to single out the exact offenders. According to him, it can either be police officers or impersonators.

“There is likelihood that police committed sexual offences, but sometimes it is impossible to commit such acts especially when they are in groups. There is also the possibility of somebody else doing it and impersonating the police. Impartial investigations into the rape claims however must be conducted,” says Mbugua.

As they narrated their stories, it was clear that the women had lost hope of ever getting justice, resigning to fate that their dignity had been abused by rogue police officers and callous criminal gangs.

It was claimed that members of the outlawed Mungiki sect, camouflaged in police attire, meted out atrocities on hapless residents of Lucky Summer. But Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet denies the Mungiki link.

“That is absolutely false. We cannot allow that to happen. People are just spreading propaganda that civilians in police uniform have joined us,” says Boinnet.

Wangari who is nursing a fractured leg claims police broke into her house in Dandora Phase IV, which borders Lucky Summer, and sexually assaulted her.

“I heard screams as gun shots rent the air. Gripped by fear, I locked my door and retired to bed. Thirty minutes later, there was a loud bang on my door and suddenly, the door was flung open. Ten men dressed in police uniforms walked in and raped me in turns,” she narrated with teary eyes.

In the adjacent Phase V estate, Esther lost her husband to a gang that dragged him out of the house and butchered him as she watched in horror and disbelief. Widowed at a young age, Esther is now shouldering the burden of bringing up their three children.

Irene Wambua, a psychologist, says such scenes result in permanent trauma with risks of suffering stroke, hallucination, mental instabilities or suicide.

Erstwhile friends and neighbours are now enemies as a result of the elections in the affected areas dominated by members of the Luhya, Luo, Kisii and Kikuyu communities.

Rosemary Auma, a community health volunteer operating in Mathare, Kariobangi and Dandora, explains that the violence meted on women and children was unwarranted. “I have been left with nightmares after witnessing bloodshed and encountered raped girls and women,” she added.

Jacinta, 69, says she was walking back to her house carrying vegetables when all hell broke loose.

“The police officers, young enough to be my grandsons, didn’t want anything other than to harm me. They pushed me to the ground and raped me repeatedly. I was left in unbearable condition, unable to walk and bleeding,” she claims.

Hilda, a resident of Kariobangi, Darfur area, is still struggling to erase the bad memories. On the fateful night, as gunfire rent the air while a police chopper hovered above, about 10 armed youths stormed their house and left behind a traumatised family.

“Whenever I recall that day, I break into tears. Imagine being raped in front of your husband and if that was not enough, my four daughters were also assaulted. Since that night, my husband never talks, but sobs whenever we converge at the table for meals,” she says.

According to Alice from Kariobangi, her 11-year-old son has, due to fear of meeting policemen, vowed never to go back to school after witnessing the officers clobbering his father mercilessly before throwing him down from the second floor. He suffered a broken spinal cord.

Jack Otieno, the victim, now spends his days lying motionless in bed. He was a second-hand clothes dealer, earning Sh10,000 monthly. But that source of income has now dried up.

Post-violence trauma has turned Betty, a former clinical officer, into a drug addict after losing interest in her work. Our conversation was constantly interrupted as she excused herself to take a cigarette puff or sip of liquor. She remembers January 18, 2008 as the turning point of her life.

“I was glued on TV watching the riots, unaware that my life too was in danger. Uniformed police officers stormed into our plot, pulled everyone out of their houses and locked us up in one tiny room,” she recounts.

Women and young girls were allegedly raped in turns while the men were sodomised and their testicles squeezed.

“They did it for over three hours. I was left unconscious, pregnant and infected with HIV. The trauma led to my current situation,” she says, claiming that she was again raped in the recent electoral violence by two police officers. Good Samaritans took her to Mama Lucy Hospital.

The women who spoke at the forum were Beatrice, Wangari, Esther, Jacinta, Hilda, Alice and Betty.