OCS arrest for freeing protesters betrays service politicisation

Pro bono lawyers at the bedside of the OCS Photo Courtesy: Kenya Times

The midnight home arrest of Officer in Charge of Police Station Dishon Angoya during another week of protests, perhaps not wholly surprising, was still unsettling. What does it reveal about how state power is being exercised?

Netizens woke to read a police signal reporting the Chief Inspector had been arrested for allegedly abusing his office by unlawfully releasing 64 protesters detained on Monday 18 May. Held at Langata Police Station, he was later moved to hospital after a spike in his blood pressure. Within hours, the story went viral.

Ruffled by the public debate, the Interior Principal Secretary, Nairobi Regional Police Commander and the Police Spokesperson issued conflicting statements. The PS questioned the OCS’s authority to release suspects. The Regional Commander said he was under investigation and the Spokesperson denied any arrest, insisting internal disciplinary processes would be deployed if necessary. Meanwhile, crowds gathered outside Angoya’s hospital in support, as pro bono human rights lawyers sought clarity on his status and possible charges or his immediate release.

The arrest raises fundamental questions about police independence and the trust the State has in its commanders. Under the National Police Service Act (Cap. 84), OCSs hold full command, administrative and enforcement authority within their stations. They are responsible for overseeing crime response, arrests, custody and court processing. They are also, a role that is often overlooked, the police’s public face and a key force in defusing tensions with the public face.

From my experience, this is where the best OCSs stand out. They manage and even de-escalate large protests with professionalism. They uphold access to legal counsel, bail, and timely court presentation. Many understand that clogging courts and remand prisons with peaceful protesters on weak charges serves neither the State, the public, nor the law. They know what drives their “clients” to their stations is not crime but political and economic grievances.

Over the last two years, if we set aside looters and goons, at least 2,500 peaceful protesters have been arrested and then released for exercising their right to disagree with government policy. If the DCI and ODPP had chosen to proceed with charges in every one of them, the judiciary would have found itself overwhelmed.

Angoya’s arrest was therefore not normal. Criminalising his discretion to grant police bond undercuts the rule of law. It betrays a likely unlawful interference in operational independence, deepens concerns that policing has been politicised and command authority is being abused.

Perhaps he drew wrath of his superiors and Harambee House who seemed keen to push an “economic sabotage” narrative. Yet with transport operators lawfully withdrawing services to protest steep fuel hikes, such charges would have most certainly collapsed in court. Wisely, this hardline stance quickly gave way to dialogue and avoided the absurdity of charging boycott organisers with a capital offence and the President taking group photos with them in State House Mombasa, a couple of days later.

Tragically, the protests did not come with fatalities and injuries. In just under 48 hours, 17 Kenyans were killed in Nairobi (4), Naivasha (4), Kiambu (3), Busia (3), Thika (2) and Nakuru (1) protests. At least 30 people are nursing gun shot wounds in hospitals throughout the country. That the National Police Service and Interior Ministry still cannot manage large protests lawfully and peacefully should alarm us. Singer Rachel Wandeto’s horrific death is another stark warning. We are drifting toward the second anniversary of the breaching of the National Assembly next month and another volatile election next year without a national multi-stakeholder safety strategy.

Released yesterday, a new data driven website demonstrates that most of the 1,002 protests over the last five years have been driven by economic grievances not politics. At 452 protests, economic freedom concerns top every other category. This is more than political discontent, social issues and more than every other grievance combined. Nairobi is responsible for 29 per cent of the protests reviewed, followed by Nakuru (5 per cent) and Mombasa (4 per cent).

The Amnesty International Kenya and Odipo Dev Kenya Freedom Index also reveals that it is community residents who have organised the most protests (360), followed by workers (235), young people (171), students (98) and civil society organisations (63) among others. Protests are driven by policy failure, state abuse of people’s rights and the collapse of public confidence.

Punishing OCS Angoya or any other senior officer for lawfully exercising his powers will change nothing. By contrast, yesterday’s US visa ban on Tanzania’s most feared senior Police Officer Faustin Mwafele for abductions, torture and extrajudicial killings despite no court arraignment for these abuses is a welcome step.

This opinion was also published in the Saturday Standard, 23 May 2026. 

For more on the Amnesty International Kenya and Odipo Dev Kenya Freedom Index of the Freedom of Assembly see