They are sworn to "Utumishi Kwa Wote" (Service to All), but for too many Kenyans, the police service has become an execution squad. A new wave of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances has exposed a rot so deep that even the oversight bodies seem powerless to stop it. Innocent citizens are being gunned down in their daily lives, their deaths explained away as "accidental" or "crime-fighting."

The disconnect between official rhetoric and street reality is jarring. While Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi recently told the African Union that "police brutality does not occur in Kenya," the morgues of Nairobi tell a different story. From the slums of Mathare to the villages of Kisii, families are mourning sons and daughters whose only crime was crossing paths with a rogue officer.

The Illusion of Accountability

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), established to curb these excesses, is increasingly viewed as a toothless bulldog. Investigations drag on for years, witnesses disappear, and conviction rates remain pitifully low. The "blue code of silence" ensures that officers protect their own, turning police stations into fortresses of impunity rather than sanctuaries of justice.

• Systematic Targeting: Human rights groups report that young men in low-income areas are profiled as criminals by default. "You don\t need a warrant to die in Kayole," says a local activist. "You just need to be poor."
• State Denial: The government\s refusal to acknowledge the scale of the problem is its biggest enabler. By dismissing documented cases as "isolated incidents," the state effectively sanctions the violence.

A Crisis of Legitimacy

This is not just a human rights crisis; it is a security threat. When the public fears the police more than the criminals, the social contract is broken. Vigilante justice fills the void, and the rule of law collapses.

The tears of the bereaved are a damning indictment of a system that has normalized bloodshed. Until the government finds the courage to prosecute the "killers in uniform" with the same vigor it chases pickpockets, the Kenyan police force will remain a source of terror, not safety.