Police speak out on officer caught on video ‘assaulting’ motorist – VIDEO
Kericho county police commander James Mugera has defended one of his officers captured on video getting physical with a motorist in the New Year eve.
The policeman was captured in a 19-second video shoving and tugging a woman motorist on a roadblock on the Kericho – Chepseon road.
The video has been shared widely on social media.
But speaking to journalists, Mr Mugera said the motorist, identified as Marie Obara, had been stopped by police for speeding while heading to Kericho Town.
The roadblock was erected between Brooke and Duka Moja trading centers, less than ten-minutes drive to the Kericho Police Station.
SPEED GUN
According to the county commander, a speed gun had captured the motorist speeding around Chepseon town.
The physical confrontation between the policewoman and motorist ensued when the officer tried to explain to her why she had to be arrested.
This happened to me today. #PoliceBrutality pic.twitter.com/S5JNZzYZBU
— Marie (@marieobara) January 1, 2017
“When she was informed that she had been speeding, she disputed and in the process she demanded to be shown the video clip of her speeding. As she was waiting for that to happen, other passengers in the vehicle started arguing with the police officer,” explained Mr Mugera.
“At that point, it became necessary to have the motorist arrested and escorted to the Kericho police station for further action. That is when the tussle began because the lady resisted arrest. This incident is unfortunate and I have personally ordered investigations,” he added.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The motorist took to social media where she claimed that the police officer handled her with excessive force after she demanded to see the speed gun report.
Mr Mugera added that all police officers who were on duty, either as traffic officers or were positioned at speed checks on the material day, had recorded statements to help with the investigations.
“I have contacted the female motorist who is in Kisumu and she is cooperating with us in our effort to find out what really happened. Within the shortest time possible, we will release the outcome of our investigation,” he said.
Mr Mugera asked Kenyans to cooperate with police officers on the highways, even as he directed police officers to conduct themselves professionally.
Kericho human rights activist Paul Chirchir demanded for more action to deal with rising cases of police brutality and demanded that the number of road-blocks between Mau Summit and Litein along the Mau Summit –Kericho- Litein highway be reduced.
