Police officers are on the spot once again for using unwarranted force while executing their mandate, if allegations by Boniface Mwangi are anything to go by.
The activist says he was physically assaulted and robbed by three National Police Service (NPS) officers who were allegedly responding to a noise complaint.
According to Mwangi, at around 9:30 pm on April 2, 2025, the three officers stormed their Sema Ukweli offices in Hurlingham to respond to the complaint.
He alleges that one of the officers, who was visibly drunk and was chewing miraa, started roughing them up.
“I tried to ask the senior officer at the scene why his colleague was working and carrying a firearm while intoxicated and chewing miraa. That’s when all hell broke loose, and a scuffle ensued,” Mwangi wrote on his social media platforms.
It is at this point, Mwangi claims, that the said officer cocked his gun to shoot him, but one of “my colleagues” pushed the gun away. The officers then reportedly handcuffed and dragged Mwangi out of the office while assaulting him.
“As they violently loaded me into the police vehicle, right in front of my colleagues and neighbours, [the drunk officer] hit me very hard on the ribs with the butt of his gun. After we arrived at the police station, and l was thrown into the police cell, [he] followed me inside and assaulted me some more. He rained blows on me as another fellow officer held me down. It was only my screams that saved me because my colleagues who had followed the police car started screaming at the police officers, demanding that they stop beating me,” the activists claims.
The following say, Officer Commanding Kilimani Police Station is said to have found Mwangi writhing in pain and ordered that he be taken to hospital.
At Nairobi Hospital, Mwangi says that he was immediately put on pain medication, underwent an x-ray to check his ribs, a head scan, and an ultrasound to check for any internal injuries that may have been sustained.
“Luckily, I had no fractures. I sustained injuries on my wrists, knee, had a busted lip, and had a lot of pain on my left ribs where [the drunk officer] had hit me with a gun butt. I could also barely see through my left eye.”
After being discharged from hospital, Mwangi says he was taken back to the station where he reported his ordeal at the hand of the officers under OB No. 84/02/04/25. He would later be released on a KSh5,000 police bond, with the OCS promising to investigate the matter.
He further alleges that the OCS requested him not to publicise the assault case during investigation period. However, he was shocked to find out the the officers had instead filed an assault case against him.
“My lawyer rushed to court to state that I had travelled, and the court set 15th April 2025 as the date for plea-taking. The magistrate was informed that l was out of the country for work and provided evidence of my invitation letter, air tickets, and exit stamps in court. The court still proceeded to issue a warrant of arrest against me because I failed to attend court on that day, and went on to set 22nd April 2025 as the new date for taking plea.”
Former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, a friend to Boniface Mwangi, has condemned the incident, threatening to instigate private prosecution against the officers if action is not take agaisnt them.
