As police brutality and public demands for justice intensify, Kenya joins other African nations in adopting training and education reforms to restore trust, humanise policing, and build a culture of accountability.
On the night of June 7, 2025, a trained teacher and blogger, Albert Ojwang, died brutally while in police custody in Nairobi, hours after arrest at his rural home, about 350 kilometers from Kenya’s capital.
Ojwang’s arrest was linked to posts on X in which he accused deputy inspector general, Eliud Lagat of running a corrupt scheme within the police service.
The posts alleged that Lagat had placed loyal officers in select departments and traffic shifts to control “both revenue streams and intelligence flow.”
The events that followed his arrest sent shockwaves across the country and left his family devastated.
“My son was alive when I handed him over to the police. They identified themselves, they were in uniform. I believed these were our officers, and that all was fine,” Meshack Ojwang, the blogger’s father told journalists and activists outside a city morgue on the morning after his son’s death.
The father was still clutching a title deed he had hoped to use to secure his son’s release on bail. Instead, he was informed his son had died.
Initially, police claimed that Ojwang was found unconscious in his cell and had died from head injuries sustained after allegedly banging his head against a wall. But this account only deepened the family’s grief.
“It was shocking and difficult to comprehend how my son died. Even a dumbhead, if they hit the wall once and feel pain they would stop. It doesn’t make sense,” Meshack cried.
Under mounting public pressure, Kenya’s police chief Douglas Kanja who appeared before parliament a few days later, retracted that account, apologising and blaming the false narrative on “misinformation from his juniors.”
A post-mortem and investigation by the country’s Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) ruled out suicide, pointing instead to foul play.
The revelations triggered national outrage, with hashtag #JusticeForAlbertOjwang trending across social media as activists and other Kenyans flooded the streets of Nairobi demanding for accountability.
Just ten days later, another unarmed Kenyan, a mask vendor, Boniface Kariuki was shot by police at close range during a demonstration calling for accountability for Ojwang’s death.
Multiple videos circulated online captured a masked police officer shooting the vendor in the face, intensifying public outrage. Boniface is still fighting for his life at Kenyatta National Hospital’s intensive care unit.
“My heart is heavy with sadness because my son is still in critical condition. I only pray they will give him back to me well, just as he was,” Jonah Kariuki, Boniface’s father expressed his worries to local media.
Activists have linked these incidents to a pattern of police brutality and impunity, citing the more than 60 young people killed during last year’s Gen Z-led anti-tax protests.
“This is not an isolated incident. It is a pattern. A chilling reflection of a system where the instruments of the state are turned against its people with impunity,” said Edgar Wabwire on X.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) estimates that nearly 160 suspected extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances were reported across Kenya in 2024.
As these cases rise and public pressure for justice mount in form of street protests, Kenyan government has begun re-thinking how it prepares officers for the complex social environments they police.
Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kipchumba Murkomen recently announced plans to begin the integration of human rights and fundamental freedoms into police training curricula and service standards, alongside regular sensitisation on legal limitations of police powers and ethical conduct during arrests and detentions.
In the planned reforms, Officers Commanding Stations (OCSs) will undergo mandatory annual training through a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) program.
“This marks the first step in restoring professionalism, discipline, and service excellence across all ranks,” Murkomen said in a press statement.
Deputy inspector general, Gilbert Masengeli, while addressing parliament, said Kenya is looking to strengthen cooperation with oversight agencies like IPOA, KNCHR, and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission EACC to monitor compliance and investigate abuse.
The long list of reforms also seeks to introduce gender-sensitive and child-friendly custody arrangements, including separate holding areas for women and children, and the deployment of female officers for cases involving women and vulnerable detainees.
Training in non-coercive investigation techniques and alternatives to custodial detention is also planned.
“The strategies and measures put in place are being developed to prevent the carriers of custodial deaths and safeguard the rights of detainees,” said Masengeli.
Kenya is drawing lessons from other African nations that have embraced a rights-based approach to policing.
Since 2018, police recruits in Rwanda have had to undergo training in international law, gender sensitivity, and civilian accountability, with senior officers required to pass annual human rights compliance exams to qualify for promotion.
In mid-June, Rwanda’s National Police (RNP) and Eastern Africa Standby Force (EASF) hosted 20 specialized investigators of sexual and gender-based violence from Rwanda, Sudan, Burundi, Comoros, Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia, and Uganda-in Kigali during a 10-day training to enhance their investigative skills in addressing the vice.
“Having this training jointly is significant to our deployments in peace support operations as member states, where we are expected to uphold human rights and contribute to the stability of fragile environments.” said Rwanda’s Deputy Inspector General of Police, DCG Jeanne Chantal Ujeneza.
In Niger, more than 10,000 police officers have been trained in human rights compliant policing over the last 20 years, supported by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, which has also contributed to the development of the country’s policing educational materials.
“The (Niger) population’s trust in the police has increased remarkably. Trust plays a key role in the fight against terrorism, training the Sahel Region in West Africa,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark posted on its website .
The Danish ministry said other Sahel regional countries have adopted human rights policing after drawing lessons from Niger.
Mali, for instance, developed educational materials on human rights in 2017, while since 2015, human rights have been part of the curriculum at two police schools in Burkina Faso.
After the #EndSARS protests shook trust in Nigeria’s policing, the government launched a police reform bill and introduced mandatory courses on human rights and conflict resolution.
In March, Nigerian Minister of Police Affairs, Senator Ibrahim Gaidam sought help from the European Union to actualize police reforms, reiterating the efforts of the Federal Government to create a more responsive and professional police service in Nigeria.
“This initiative aims to enhance the effectiveness, accountability and community engagement of the Nigerian Police Force,” said Gaidam.
He listed improved training, better resource allocation, and the establishment of more robust oversight mechanisms as key to ensuring transparency and public trust.
During the Policing Summit 2025, held in April under the theme “Efficiency in Action: Optimising South Africa’s Policing Potential”, South African Police Service (SAPS) said it is looking to professionalise its police and demilitarise its approach to policing, adopt an integrated approach to building safety, and foster active community participation by 2030.
Across Africa, underfunding, political interference, and deeply entrenched impunity in some countries however, remain biggest challenges to humanising law enforcement.
Security experts and civil society groups warn that training must be backed by independent oversight, better welfare for officers, and prosecution of abuses.
Former Kenya Security Industry Association, National Chairman, Erick Okeyo said in a televised Interview the best the government should do now is to be genuine in reforming police force with clarity in psychosocial stability, housing and remuneration.
“Government must be deliberate that they will not use the reforms to push for short term gains where they use them to thrash on opponents because governments come and go,” Okeyo Warned.
“Police are part of us, a number of them are good. Government must be genuine to reform them and those who are rogue should be left to face the law,” said Okeyo.
bird story agency
