A nationwide study has revealed that police abuse of power (PAP) remains alarmingly widespread in Kenya, with 42.9% of citizens reporting personal experiences of misconduct between March 2022 and March 2024. Citizen Digital reports.
The Justice System Response to Police Accountability report by International Justice Mission Kenya, which engaged 5,700 participants across nine counties through surveys and 17 focus group discussions (FGDs), paints a stark picture of abuse, mistrust, and weak accountability within the country’s criminal justice system.
While the findings indicate a slight decline in prevalence from 46.2% in 2019 to 42.9%, the scale of abuse remains troubling. An even greater majority — 69.9% of respondents — reported witnessing misconduct during the same period, confirming that police malpractice is not only common but highly visible in daily life.
The study classified misconduct into three categories: low, medium, and high severity. Medium-severity misconduct was most prevalent, accounting for 85.2% of reported cases, with corruption/extortion (55.8%) and harassment (54.7%) leading the list. Low-severity cases such as verbal intimidation stood at 31.3%, while high-severity abuses involving serious harm or violations stood at 27.7%.
Men reported more abuse than women (61.4% vs 38.5%), and urban residents (75.9%) were more likely to suffer compared to rural residents (24.1%). Education appeared to increase exposure, with 67.7% of victims having higher education levels.
Regionally, Kisumu County recorded the highest prevalence across all severity categories, while the 25–34 age group was most affected, particularly by high-severity misconduct (24.4%).
Focus group discussions also highlighted that certain groups remain particularly vulnerable, including youths, informal workers such as matatu touts and hawkers, Muslims and Cushitic communities, sex workers, and people with visible traits like long beards, tattoos, or dreadlocks.
Despite high victimization rates, many Kenyans expressed willingness to seek justice: 63.7% were ready to report police misconduct, and 88% said they would participate in proceedings.
