Inspector General of Police Japheth Koome on Tuesday, August 8, sensationally claimed that the opposition hired dead bodies to paint police in bad light.
Koome who spoke at the National Police Training College in Kiganjo during the opening of a six-week senior officers training course, said that the opposition hired dead bodies to accuse the officers of killing them during the protests.
“It is very unfortunate to see the members of the society going to mortuaries, hiring dead bodies, and calling the media saying that these people (the dead bodies) were killed by police,” he said.
However, in a quick rejoinder, Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition leader Raila Odinga dismissed Koome’s claims.
Raila who was leading the anti-government protests against the Kenya Kwanza government affirmed that all the bodies of the people reported to have been killed by police had bullet wounds.
The ODM party leader further stated that all the death certificates of the deceased confirmed that they all dies due to gunshot wounds courtesy of the police officers.
“It is very disappointing to hear IG Koome say that we hired dead bodies to accuse police of brutality. I don’t know in which world he lives because the bodies we buried had bullet wounds and death certificates confirming the cause of death,” Raila said.
ODM Secretary General Edwin Sifuna supported Raila’s remarks stating that IG Koome’s suitability has to be questioned.
Sifuna who is also the Senator for Nairobi said Koome could be mentally ill adding that such claims cannot germinate in a well-balanced mind.
“People like Koome could actually be mentally ill. Such a morbid idea cannot germinate in a sane mind,” Sifuna said.
