IG Mutyambai expresses worry over court ruling that puts security at risk ahead of polls

Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai has said national security is in jeopardy following a court ruling which stripped police officers’ powers to draft charges against suspects.

Mutyambai says the ruling puts the country’s security at great risk adding that the ruling made uncertain the future of cases that were already under the police’s hands.

The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and The National Police Service have since appealed the ruling through the Attorney general.

The ruling which was made by Justice Anthony Mrima set free business man Humphrey Kariuki who had been charged for tax evasion after the court learnt that it is the police who drafted the charge sheet.

“The stalemate occasioned by the said judgment is a threat to national security in that people who have committed criminal offences cannot be urgently charged in court.” Mutyambai said.

Inspector General Hillary Mutyambai Pulse Live Kenya

The police and DCI are however requesting the court of appeal to grant a delay in execution of the court order as they wait for the appeal to be heard as the matter is of great concern especially as the country heads to the general elections

“The case is of immense public interest and affects matters of national security as we are approaching the general election and merits urgent consideration and resolution by this honourable court,” Betty Mwasao, a state counsel in the Office of the Attorney General said.

Mutyambai said that 11 days after the court made the ruling, there were over 474 criminal complaints in Nairobi alone which were yet to be worked on, while 512 suspects had been forced to be released on bail. The Rift Valley region had 227 cases while Western and Nyanza 73 and 283 cases respectively.

Mutyambai appealed to the court to take into consideration that the country was entering an electioneering period where the security apparatus were meant to be effective.