Two Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) officers have been arrested for failing to repatriate four Somali nationals who were found to be in the country illegally.
Constable Noah Songony of ATPU Garissa and Constable Elkana Kemboi of ATPU Lamu were arrested by detectives from the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) and are detained at Capitol Hill police station in Nairobi.
A third officer has also been summoned and the three are to be charged in court on April 4, 2023.
The IAU detectives launched the probe after the three officers, then based at the Busia border, were found to have colluded with the Somali nationals and failed to repatriate them.
The foreigners sneaked into the country through Uganda and were arrested. The court ordered that they be taken back to their country and were handed over to the three arrested officers.
The foreigners were later released and found in the country. Investigation reveals that rogue officers and some government officials are colluding with aliens to get into the country while those ordered to be repatriated by court are also released and are living freely in the country.
In one of the cases under investigation, a former Assistant Chief from Tana River and a resident of Eastleigh are said to be helping foreigners acquire national ID cards.
“We are investigating a report that on December 2 last year, the former government official took two foreigners to Makadara Huduma Centre to apply for the national IDs. It is suspected that he is also hosting several foreigners in Eastleigh,” a senior detective said.
A probe by one of the oversight bodies has warned that the family members of most of the suspects to be repatriated usually collude with rogue police officers who then fail to take them back to their countries of origin but instead release them after they have paid some bribes.
In another case in Pangani police station last year where a foreigner who was to be repatriated was instead released in unclear circumstances, a senior commander exonerated the OCS, an Inspector and a Corporal.
In the case, number 887/2022, the Makadara Court on March 31, 2022 issued an order that Hussein Muhmin Hassan be repatriated to his country of origin after he was found being in the country illegally.
The court order was received at Pangani police station on April 11. The family of Hassan went to the station and they met with a corporal.
"He assured them that he could help them and asked them to raise Ksh500,000. They later paid Ksh200,000 and Hassan was released unconditionally,” preliminary investigation report reads.
Despite having been involved in the illegal release of the suspect, two officers claimed that they took the suspect to the Industrial Area on April 12, 2022.
The report further adds that the removal from the custody was not recorded in the Occurrence Book (OB) until 6.57 pm when it was booked by another constable.
“In their statement, the officers claimed that they took Hassan to the Industrial Area police depot. They however claimed they only collected a copy of the repatriation order on June 16, 2022 when they escorted another prisoner, Elamu Alambo,” the report reads.
A senior official with one of the police oversight bodies said most of these collusions, extortions and other criminal acts by rogue officers were happening with the full knowledge and consent of most senior officers.
“We have cases where officers have been involved in several criminal and disciplinary activities but no meaningful action has been taken against them,” another senior detective said.
