Former Chief Justice David Maraga has given President William Ruto seven days to publish the full report of the National Taskforce on Police Reforms, warning that he will release the document himself if the President fails to do so.
Maraga, who chaired the taskforce, said the report was submitted to President Ruto on November 16, 2023, and was prepared at public expense.
He invoked Article 35 of the Constitution on access to information, demanding the immediate publication of the “complete and unedited” report.
Maraga accused the administration of failing to implement recommendations contained in the report, including measures aimed at restoring the independence of the National Police Service and addressing police brutality and impunity.
He cited Articles 232, 239, 244 and 245 of the Constitution, as well as Sections 8 and 8A of the National Police Service Act, arguing that the police service is constitutionally required to operate independently in discharging its mandate.
The former CJ alleged that Kenya had witnessed “organized political violence, goonism and partisan policing” in Homa Bay, Keumbu and Ol Kalou, as well as violence in churches in Kisumu, Nairobi and Witima.
He accused the government of allowing the police service to be subjected to political influence, describing the situation as a result of what he termed the “State Capture of the National Police Service.”
“This is a road the country has travelled before at terrible cost. It must not travel it again,” Maraga said.
He further accused the President of failing, for nearly three years, to act on the taskforce’s recommendations on police independence.
Maraga’s ultimatum puts pressure on the President to make public a report that has remained unpublished since its submission nearly three years ago.
He said that should the President fail to release the document within seven days, he would “myself release it.”
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