kenyaimagine.com

Home

Judge, Jury and Executioner

Written by David Mathai

Thursday, 22 February 2007

Kenya's most wanted gangster, Simon Matheri Ikere, has been shot dead. As has happened in the past, the police seem to be covering up the truth with their explanation conflicting with wananchi accounts of the shooting.

It is their word against hers, the police against Matheri's wife. According to his wife, Matheri walked out still in his boxers, with his hands on his head as directed by the police who came to to arrest him. According to the police, however, Matheri had an AK 47 and was getting ready to start shooting forcing them to shoot at him to defend themselves. If as the police claimed, Matheri was handcuffed before he was shot, it makes little sense why the police shot him. Are the police hiding information that only they and Matheri were privy of?

The Kenya Police should have used this opportunity to arrest Matheri and from him gather intelligence on other wanted criminals and on information on gun distributors. It is also important for the police to find out why these criminals are trigger happy, attacking citizens even when there is no resistance. By shooting to kill first, the police did little to let justice prevail.

What became of the law? If as the police say, they surrounded Matheri's home, then it is incredible to believe that they could not apprehend him. While trying to create a mental picture of the police account, one finds it difficult to make sense of how Matheri was shot in the back while their account suggests that he was coming from inside the house when he was shot.

The police have now demonstrated that they do not uphold the rule of law since their victims are not given an opportunity to be tried in a court of law. One wonders if the police make an assumption that all individuals who they shoot are criminals. If this is the case, why then do they plant a gun and other ammunition to justify their shooting even when they are not under any attack?

I support the Kenya Police fight against crime, even when they come down hard on criminals. However, shooting to kill gangsters is not the solution to fighting crime. The police have to be trained to shoot to incapacitate, and if suspects are injured then they should receive medical treatment. Then they should be tried in a court of law after an investigation has been carried out. This is the only way that the police can truly crack down on crime.

Since they do not uphold the law, wananchi are left to wonder if the police are hiding the real criminals while persecuting those who have not paid their dues to their masters.

Photo courtesy of Boniface Mwangi at flickr.

David Mathai
		About the author:

Related Articles:

Kibaki's Speech to the UN General Assembly
Security at your fingertips
Good Money After Bad
What is America's stake in this?
If only stupidity had a cure...

Articles by this Author:

Local brews are now legal
Money, Elections and Corruption

View all articles by this author

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email This

Trackback(0)

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (18)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments

I Agree
written by Edwin Okong\'o , February 23, 2007

What's even more worrysome is that no one in the Kenyan press -- if you can call the error-ridden bunch that -- saw anything wrong with that. None of the so-called leading dailies questioned the fact that these guys were shot from behind. I'm not surprised, though.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

live by the gun....
written by Doris Sadera , February 23, 2007

I don't see what the problem is. This is a guy who shot people like they were nothing! How many people has he killed? Further more he was responsible for the death of a policeman. Let's not forget this was the #1 wanted man in Kenya. Why did he deserve the mercy he never showed his victims? He deserved what he got - there was no other possible end to this. I wonder how you would feel if one of your relatives had died at his hands!

How does one get to be on the most wanted list? I'm sure the criteria has to involve some guarantee of guilt. If tried in court, his sentence would have ended up in death anyway. So... he was guilty and would have got the death sentence anyway. Let the cops do their job - I say being on the most wanted list should equal a shoot on sight order. Lets send a message to those who would kill without regard and support the police.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by Purity , February 23, 2007

Well, we could go on and on about what was right and wrong but Matheri was no saint-when we think of his human rights, who speaks of the other Kenyans right to live free in a secure environment? Furthermore you do not expect his wife and the police to agree. What has amazed me is the jubilation that greeted his death.

As for our police and handling of suspects, what comes to my mind is those picture of the Nairobi Police Commisioner and his crew in Zimmerman I think last year or the year before-that just potrayed how much our police needed 'capacity building' on gun handling!

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by Amir Ibrahim , February 23, 2007

No wonder we live in an un-ending spiral of violence, and the real shame is that not one of the newspapers has questioned this barbarism on the part of the Kenya Police.

What this means, Doris and other such fans of estra-legal executions is that anyone accused by the Kenya Police has nothing to lose. In a fight for his life, he is not likely to balk at taking out anyone who stands in his way.

More as emmo says, and as was evident in the case of the University student who looked like Matheri, even an unarmed law-abidning Kenyan is prey for the Kenya Police, if only they have the slightest cause for suspicion. I know it is not about competence or the likelihood that they have the right man, but does anyone trsut that the Kenya Police can even prosecute with competence at all.

Don't all of you know about young men who have been accosted and battered by the Police for doing nothing but walking after midnight? I have had police guns cocked at me, in the middle of a city, in the full glare of street lights, for no reason at all. Sat in jail for a night for no reason either. How many poor Kenyans do your primitive solutions protect Doris?

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Shoot first Questions later
written by donworry , February 23, 2007

I agree completely with the views of the author(David Mathai). The whole saga sounds more like a premeditated hit than an arrest operation gone wrong.

I will quickly say that I share Edwin Okong'os sentiments about how poorly the media have treated this case.....could the censorship allegations aimed at Vigilance house have had some foundation?

Doris Sadera's point, with which I agree completely, is borne out of the frustrations that we Nairobians genuinely feel at the breakdown in security, especially in the estates.

The time for compassion with these lawless gun totting bloodthirsty killers is gone. The family life of Ikere and his wife and kids is touching. A family man making his living by violently robbing and killing others is a poor role model and is the perfect example of a very poor set of life choices.

Purity says, quite accurately that Mathere is not a saint(at least bado)I have to say that life teaches us: Never say never. The stone that the builder refused shall be the head corner stone, as the Good Book says. There may come a time when we see this event as a turning point. The point when we all stood as one to uphold the principles of due process and to reject extra-judicial executions by agents of the State.

There are many who are thinking today that Matheri Ikere was shot dead infront of the public because

Dead Men Tell No Tales

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by John Ongeri , February 23, 2007

The reaction of many people is one of joy at the killing of this man. It may not be the rule of law as prescribed in the text books but it is natural justice.

I would like to assure emmo, Amir and Edwin that whilst we rejoice at the passing of this thug and his associates we are not a bloodthirsty lynch mob. We have suffered enough. Many have lost loved ones. These guys have terrorised us for a long time. They were not too keen about applying the rule of law for their victims.

I for one will not be shedding any tears.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Ahem - bridle yourselves
written by Alexander , February 23, 2007

Hm.

As admin, I think I will edit a few of the comments. Maybe I'll be a bit over-careful, but it is important that all animals be alike... (shades of Orwell).

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Viva Police Action
written by Obamab , February 23, 2007

Police everywhere suffer the same as their Kenyan counterpart, trying to justify their shooting of criminals, read the latest saga of NYPD killing suspects in a hail of bullets. the Kenyan police can be accused of being trigger happy bunch but that can be said about any police force in the world. The police are justified when forced by deadly force to reciprocate in kind. We are forgetting the police are human and faced with their mortality when dealing with criminals who are known not to hesitate when they are faced with the possibility of being apprehended. Gone are the days of John Kiriamiti who built a reputation by being able to outfox cops and not outshoot them.
By shooting to kill the police are sending a message to others that the luxury of being tired at a court of law will not be extended to them because of the kind of crimes they commit.
Like states earlier, the luxury of the rule of law can only be upheld in a civil society where everyone respects the law. This is just that a justification of the police use of excessive force. The rule of law has let the mwanainchi down, that is generally the reason why no one sympathises with the gangsters who are killed by the cops. There is no recourse for the mwanainchi, since the court systems drag on and on, with the possibility of the criminal cheating the system either due to the incompetence of the Police force or the judicial system or even the prisons, not being able to rehabilitate this ruthless people.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by aeichener , February 24, 2007

See today's bitter sarcastic comment by Kwamchetsi Makokha:

"Perhaps, Kenya should abolish the Judiciary altogether and instead appoint police the judge, the jury and the executioner. They would never have to fill in a single form, appear before a court or bother with rules of evidence or such other nonsense."

http://www.nationmedia.com/dai...wsid=92483

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by Honey , February 24, 2007

Just because I do not view issues as ordinarily as Mr. Opoti and the admin. does not mean the post ought to be deleted.

Away of reasoning can never be imposed on anyone unless they are tepid.

Show me a 'civilized' society or those 'successfully civilized' and I will name ten stores in hell that sell ice cream.

Here is the short sightedness in all this: there are more pressing issues than using the tax payers money on souls that are beyond redemption. There are intelligent robbers who can certainly help the cops in hunting criminals, others are simple predisposed violent people. Matheri was in the later group, he had nothing to offer.

Academia and the gift of gab cannot surely be thought of as intelligence nor open mindedness!

Who proposed the rule of Law?

Same issue ails the Islam religion, keep everyone ignorant and illiterate, and keep harping about 'Allah's law'.
This is debate, right?

I give this site one more month, it will all be tepid-tapioka!

(Honey please check your email, Julia for Admin)

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

re: live by the gun....
written by Edwin Okong\'o , February 24, 2007

Yes, Doris, we all know how honest Kenyan cops are.

Let's not allow our emotions and passions to take over our rationality. Are you assuming that the man was guilty? How can we expect anybody to live by the law when we don't? What then is the purpose of our courts if we execute people without giving them a chance to defend themselves?

The cops have already lied and it's highly possible that the man wasn't as bad as they say he was.

From my understanding, the technology they used to track his has been around for a while. Why did it take them so long to catch him?

Lest you think that I'm defending this man. No one deserves to die when they surrender.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by emmo opoti , February 24, 2007

Thank you Mathai for the insight. Kenyans should be ashamed of themselves, especially ignorant ones (...). The rule of law means exactly that, rule of law.

No one deserves to be shot, anywhere anytime, not even the devil or his creator. The fact that Matheir has been killed already three times is further proof that this 'shoot-to-kill' policy is harming very many innocents.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by Honey , February 24, 2007

'Rule of Law' is a phrase restricted to nations that can afford that luxury.

The man was not worth living, and he was stupid too. Why waste funds, time, and money to try such baloney!

I see no loss there, even if he had been shot through the mouth, it would still be okay with me.

All thugs should be 'execute' (as Borat would say) on sight.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

foul honey
written by emmo opoti , February 24, 2007

'Rule of Law' is a phrase restricted to nations that can afford that luxury.
All thugs should be 'execute' (as Borat would say) on sight.

(...)

The rule of law is not a luxury, it is the underpinning of any civilised society, and the true and only way to combat crime. You are a truly ignorant person.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Bwana Ongeri
written by Edwin Okong\'o , February 25, 2007

Your stance on this issue is not surprising. It is very easy to blame the alleged criminal for all society's ill, because then we won't have to do anything.

You can execute a Matheri every day but that will not make anybody safe. The answers are elsewhere, my friend.

The reaction of many people is one of joy at the killing of this man. It may not be the rule of law as prescribed in the text books but it is natural justice.

I would like to assure emmo, Amir and Edwin that whilst we rejoice at the passing of this thug and his associates we are not a bloodthirsty lynch mob. We have suffered enough. Many have lost loved ones. These guys have terrorised us for a long time. They were not too keen about applying the rule of law for their victims.

I for one will not be shedding any tears.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Honey\'s Comment Not So Sweet
written by Edwin Okong\'o , February 25, 2007

While I agree with you , Honey, that many organized groups are served better when people remain ignorant, I think it's unfair to single out Islam.

No religion has been more responsible for keeping people uninformed than Christianity. Governments operate on the same philosophy, too.

The attack on Islam was unwarranted. Let's play fair.

Just because I do not view issues as ordinarily as Mr. Opoti and the admin. does not mean the post ought to be deleted.

Away of reasoning can never be imposed on anyone unless they are tepid.

Show me a 'civilized' society or those 'successfully civilized' and I will name ten stores in hell that sell ice cream.

Here is the short sightedness in all this: there are more pressing issues than using the tax payers money on souls that are beyond redemption. There are intelligent robbers who can certainly help the cops in hunting criminals, others are simple predisposed violent people. Matheri was in the later group, he had nothing to offer.

Academia and the gift of gab cannot surely be thought of as intelligence nor open mindedness!

Who proposed the rule of Law?

Same issue ails the Islam religion, keep everyone ignorant and illiterate, and keep harping about 'Allah's law'.
This is debate, right?

I give this site one more month, it will all be tepid-tapioka!

(Honey please check your email, Julia for Admin)

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

...
written by kendirangu , March 02, 2007

After all the frustrations the police have been through with the judiciary, there is a rule in the crime world thats known by all cops and criminals.
If you kill a cop you never make it to court. Thats the way they play it.
I dont blame them.

There was a guy called Shimoli who got 8 years despite several rapes, carjackings and escapes from custody he is due a release soon. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/426196.stm

If you were Michuki or Ali why wouldn't you expect your officers to carry out a shoot on sight order for such people?

Whats worst about such guys is that virtually no civillain is brave enough to go to court and provide evidence as such guys still have their network of thugs running around and ready to avenge such acts.

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Teacher
written by Ochuodho Walter , March 04, 2007

Imagine you were in the position of police, what would you expect. Nab the suspect, take him to court and be released by court for lack of evidence only to return and do the same again?

I tend to think police were also in the same dilema. Having been in Kenya the police virtually knows everything, who does what and where.
Its not therefore surprising that they summarily execututed Matheri

report abuse

vote down

vote up

Votes: +0

Show/Hide comment form