Ipoa hands 184 cases to DPP on Gen Z, Azimio protests

Families of those killed, injured, or reported missing during the Gen Z and 2023 Azimio protests will wait longer for justice, as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed it is only handling 184 case files submitted by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority.

Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga said the files are under legal review to establish whether the evidence meets the threshold for prosecution.

He dismissed claims that his office was withholding additional files or deliberately delaying action against officers accused of abuses.

“We only have 184 files awaiting our review and action. We must review them as per the law to see the chances of arriving at a conviction that is beyond a reasonable doubt,” he said.

“If we don’t do the due diligence and have only cases with credible evidence proceed to trial and the accused is acquitted, the person can come back and sue for wrongful prosecution and get awarded hefty sums of taxpayers’ money.”

Ingonga did not indicate how long the review process would take, leaving the victims’ families uncertain about when justice might be served. The law allows the DPP to close a file, send it back to Ipoa to address gaps, or forward it to court for prosecution.

Ipoa chairperson Issack Hassan said most of the cases involve officers suspected of unlawful conduct during the Gen Z demonstrations and the Azimio cost of living protests in late 2023 and early 2024.

“These are GenZ protests and Azimio cost of living protests files. I know it is taking long, but we are committed to serving justice to the victims of the widely reported abuses,” he said.

Hassan pointed out that the authority struggles with structural limitations that affect its work.

He revealed that Ipoa has 284 staff instead of the 440 required, with only 77 investigators tasked with monitoring a police force of 125,000 armed officers.

“We are literally outmanned and outgunned. We need to address some of these structural inadequacies that Ipoa suffers if we are to justly and effectively serve the country,” he said.

He added that despite its independence, the agency depends on the Ministry of Interior to approve its budget before it is sent to Parliament, making it vulnerable to funding delays.

The lack of cooperation from the police, Hassan said, also hampers investigations, especially in accessing crucial records.

“We need the Occurrence Book, whether manual or digital and the arms register for our investigations. Many times, our investigators encounter blocks,” he said.

“Luckily, we currently have a good Inspector General who’s more responsive to Ipoa because there is one who called our investigators busybodies.”

The two officials spoke during a human rights symposium organised by the Missing Voices Coalition in Mombasa over the weekend.