The former police spokesperson defends police officers operation during protests

By Robert Mutasi

Former police spokesperson Charles Owino has firmly defended the police operation during the Azimio protests that they have the right to protect the property of Kenyans from damage and lives of people.

The Azimio protests are for the anti-government to lower the cost of living among other key issues that the government has not solved.

Speaking in an interview with Citizen TV on Thursday, Owino has said that the security officers are on the streets to ensure protesters with hidden intentions are not committing any crime.

He stated that police are responsible for their mandate and there is no need for the public to accuse them.

Further, he has added that the police brutality is just as a result of responding to the rudeness of some of the protesters who tried to fight with the police.

"Police have responsibilities to protect lives and properties and what you can talk about may be unjustified excess force that an individual police officer has used because every person is mated to his own judgement," he said.

Owino has again stated that the public is in a hurry to direct blame fingers to the police officers in every protest once it occurred.

He has said that they often blame police for causing chaos, mayhem and violence in the streets which lead to the injuries and loss of lives and damage of properties.

"Every time there are demonstrations, and then it is the police that incite people into the kind of wars we see around," he admitted.

Nonetheless, he has noted that the security officers do risk their lives and others get injured while executing their duties of restoring peace, law and order during demonstrations.

In addition, he has described police officers as empathetic people since many of them get attacked by the protesters and they don't shoot instead they run away to save their dear lives.

He has condemned the Azimio party leaders for being in the forefront of accusing police officers for harassing the protesters while ignoring the damage protesters caused to the properties.