IPOA launches probe over death of minors in post-election protests

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has now started a probe on the deaths of two minors in Mathare estate in Nairobi and Kisumu during the post-election protests.

In a statement, the agency says high level investigators have been dispatched to Kisumu and Mathare area here in Nairobi to investigate the deaths and ensure justice is done in the two cases.

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A six-month-old baby, Samantha Pendo, died Tuesday, August 15 in a Kisumu hospital after succumbing to head injuries which were allegedly inflicted on her by police officers who were deployed to quell protests in Kisumu over the presidential election outcome.

In Nairobi, a nine-year-old girl, Moraa Nyarangi, was killed in the informal settlement of Mathare after she was reportedly hit by a police stray bullet that tore through her chest.

National Super Alliance (NASA) supporters staged protests in the heartlands of Homa Bay, Kisumu, Siaya and Kibera, Kawangware and Mathare areas of Nairobi immediately after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) declared President Uhuru Kenyatta winner of the August 8 General Election.

The police have been faulted in the manner they handled the protesters, several bodies accusing them of using excessive force to quell the ‘dissatisfied supporters’.

Kituo Cha Sheria has already called upon IPOA to generally investigate police brutality and bring the specific officers responsible to justice.

At least 24 people have lost their lives in the protests that started on Friday, August 11.