Probe launched into armed KDF, police officers' scuffle at Likoni ferry
Riders disembark from the Mv Safari Ferry at the Likoni Channel in this photo taken on September 28, 2022. National Police Service officers and military personnel clashed at the channel on April 27, 2024.
Investigations have been launched to establish circumstances that led to a fight between National Police Service officers and military personnel at the Likoni ferry crossing channel in Mombasa.
An amateur video that went viral on social media showed a group of armed Kenya Defence Forces personnel engaged in a scuffle with policemen manning the busy crossing channel.
One of the KDF officers was seen slapping a security officer as uniformed men and women from both the KDF and NPS tried to calm the situation.
It was not immediately clear what caused the scuffle, but an official military vehicle was seen at the scene, apparently waiting for clearance to board the ferry.
In a statement, the KDF confirmed that the incident took place on Saturday evening.
"To establish the circumstances leading to the incident, Military Police and requisite investigation agencies are currently handling the matter. The incident is highly regrettable. As KDF personnel, we are beholden to the core value of professionalism," the statement said.
This is the second incident within two weeks whereby KDF and policemen are engaged in a scuffle.
On April 17, a similar incident was reported in Lodwar, Turkana County when about ten servicemen raided a police station to release their colleagues who had been detained for disarming a police officer at a roadblock near Turkana University College.
However, KDF said the soldiers neither assaulted a police officer nor raided a police station, but added that investigations had been launched.
The four servicemen who were detained had engaged in a confrontation with a policeman while they were heading to Moi Gardens to fetch water on a bowser.
They claimed that the police delayed their trip. Several shots were fired during the incident but no injuries were reported.
In Kilifi, a military officer is in police custody for allegedly assaulting a police officer while trying to forcefully release his cousin who was locked in a cell.
According to a police report seen by the Nation, the KDF officer stormed Bindira police station with his uncle on Saturday to free the suspect who had been arrested for assault.
"The said KDF officer assaulted PC William Omondi No. 126492 by twisting his right hand at the wrist and punching him on the chest with his fist. They also broke the steel door and window pane of the report office, allowing the suspect to escape from there. They turned to the complainant of the assault case, who was also present, and strangled and beat him in the report office," the police said.
It took the intervention of other officers who managed to restrain the two and lock them up in the cells.
