NAIROBI, Kenya – Nearly half of Kenyans have suffered at the hands of police officers in the past two years, a new nationwide study has revealed, exposing systemic abuse, entrenched corruption, and a weak accountability framework within the country’s criminal justice system.
The Justice System Response to Police Accountability report, released by International Justice Mission (IJM) Kenya, surveyed 5,700 people across nine counties between March 2022 and March 2024 and held 17 focus group discussions.
The findings show that 42.9% of respondents experienced police abuse of power (PAP) during that period, while 69.9% reported witnessing misconduct.
Although this marks a slight decline from 46.2% in 2019, researchers say the numbers remain alarmingly high.
Corruption and harassment dominate cases
The study ranked misconduct by severity:
- Medium-severity misconduct — including corruption/extortion (55.8%) and harassment (54.7%) — accounted for the majority of cases at 85.2%.
- Low-severity cases, such as verbal intimidation, stood at 31.3%.
- High-severity abuses — involving serious harm or rights violations — were reported by 27.7% of victims.
Men were more likely to be abused than women (61.4% vs 38.5%), while urban residents (75.9%) faced greater exposure compared to rural counterparts (24.1%).
Education also appeared to increase vulnerability, with 67.7% of victims having higher education levels.
Regionally, Kisumu County recorded the highest prevalence of abuse across all severity categories.
The 25–34 age group emerged as the most affected, particularly by high-severity misconduct.
Focus groups revealed that certain groups remain disproportionately targeted: youths, informal workers such as matatu touts and hawkers, Muslims and Cushitic communities, sex workers, and individuals with visible traits such as long beards, tattoos, or dreadlocks.
Fear and mistrust block justice
While 63.7% of respondents expressed willingness to report abuse and 88% said they would participate in proceedings, most never acted on it.
Out of 2,444 victims, 62.6% did not report their cases. Of the 915 who did, only 52.5% reached formal agencies such as IPOA, DCI, or the Internal Affairs Unit, while 45.6% turned to chiefs and community leaders.
Among those who pursued justice, 75.4% remained engaged, but nearly a quarter (23.6%) dropped out midway.
Participants cited mistrust of institutions, financial barriers like high legal fees and transport costs, fear of retaliation, and slow investigations by oversight bodies as the biggest obstacles.
“The absence of a strong witness protection framework leaves victims and witnesses exposed to harassment, intimidation, and even violence,” the report noted.
A persistent crisis
The report underscores the gap between citizens’ willingness to hold police accountable and the systemic failures that push many into silence.
Despite years of reform and the creation of oversight agencies, police misconduct remains a “visible and persistent reality” in Kenya, IJM said.
The findings now place fresh pressure on justice sector actors — from IPOA to the Judiciary — to restore public trust and address long-standing impunity within law enforcement.
