Kenya watchdog probes possible police link to bodies found dumped in rubbish tip

People stand on the edge of a dumpsite where several bodies were found at the landfill in Mukuru slum, Nairobi, on 12 July 2024. (Simon Maina/AFP)

• Kenya’s Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) is
  investigating potential police involvement in the discovery of mutilated bodies
  dumped near a Nairobi police station.
• Amidst public outrage over the deaths of demonstrators,
  allegedly due to excessive force by security forces, National Police Chief
  Japhet Koome resigned after less than two years in office.
• The mutilated bodies, predominantly female, were found in
  a garbage site.

Kenya’s
police watchdog said it is investigating whether there is any police
involvement in the gruesome discovery of mutilated bodies dumped in a Nairobi
rubbish tip.

The
Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) is also looking into claims of
abductions and unlawful arrests of demonstrators who went missing after
widespread anti-government protests.

Kenyan
security forces are under scrutiny over the deaths of dozens of people during
the demonstrations last month, accused by rights groups of using excessive
force.

National
police chief Japhet Koome, the target of much public anger over the protest
deaths, resigned after less than two years in the post, Kenya’s presidency
announced Friday.

The
same day, police said the severely mutilated bodies of six women were found
dumped in a garbage site in the Nairobi slum of Mukuru.

READ | Kenya’s Ruto dismisses almost entire Cabinet after deadly protests

The
IPOA said in a statement later Friday that the remains of at least nine people
had been recovered, seven of them female and two male.

“The
bodies, wrapped in bags and secured by nylon ropes, had visible marks of
torture and mutilation,” it said, noting that the dumpsite was less than
100 metres from a police station.

The agency said:

Images
on local television showed people using ropes to pull plastic sacks containing
the human remains from rubbish-strewn water in an abandoned quarry.

The
Directorate of Criminal Investigations said preliminary investigations
suggested all the victims had been killed in the same manner, without
elaborating.

The
bodies were taken to the city morgue to await postmortem examinations, it
added.

The
Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions also highlighted the location of
the bodies so close to a police station and said was “deeply
concerned” about the discoveries “which point to a grave violation of
human rights”.