EDITORIAL: The sickening video of police officers bludgeoning young men playing pool in Nandi Hills is not just a documentation of a crime; it is an indictment of a police service that continues to wage war on the very citizens it is sworn to protect.

On January 10, 2026, officers believed to be from the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) turned an entertainment joint into a torture chamber. Armed with batons and a profound sense of impunity, they assaulted unarmed civilians for the "crime" of being out past 11 PM. Yet, more than a week later, these officers are reportedly still in uniform, walking the same streets they terrorized.

A Culture of Impunity

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has talked tough, promising arrests, charges, and dismissals. The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) and the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) have launched probes. But Kenyans have heard this script before. The "investigations" drag on until the public forgets, and the rogue officers are quietly transferred to terrorize a new community.

Why is it so hard to arrest officers caught red-handed on camera? If these were civilians assaulting a police officer, they would be in Kamiti Maximum Prison by now—or in the morgue. The delay in justice suggests a systemic protection of brutality that goes deeper than just a few "bad apples."

• The RDU Menace: The Rapid Deployment Unit is designed for high-risk operations, not for harassing youths in bars. deploying combat-trained officers to enforce liquor licensing hours is a gross misuse of state violence. It reflects a militarization of routine policing that treats every citizen as an enemy combatant.
• Murkomen's Test: This is a litmus test for CS Murkomen. His predecessor failed to curb police excesses. If these Nandi Hills officers are not prosecuted publicly and swiftly, his tough talk will be exposed as mere hot air.

End the Cycle

We demand more than just "probes." We demand immediate interdiction of the commanding officers who authorized this raid. We demand that the officers identified in the footage be disarmed and placed in custody immediately. The youths of Nandi Hills—and indeed all Kenyans—deserve a police service, not a police force.

Until we see handcuffs on the perpetrators, the National Police Service remains a threat to national security. Brutality is not a tactic; it is a crime. It is time the government treated it as such.