An investigation is opened after the clash between KDF soldiers and police on the Likoni ferry.
Investigations have been launched to establish the circumstances that led to a scuffle between national police officers and military personnel at the Likoni to Mombasa ferry crossing.
An amateur video posted on social media shows a group of armed members of the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) engaged in a scuffle with police officers guarding the busy crossing channel.
One of the KDF soldiers is seen slapping a security guard as men and women in KDF and NPS uniforms try to calm the situation.
The cause of the fight was not immediately determined, but an official military vehicle was seen at the scene, apparently waiting for permission to board the ferry.
In a statement, the KDF confirmed that the incident took place on Saturday evening.
“In order to establish the circumstances leading to the incident, the military police and relevant investigative agencies are currently handling the case. The incident is very regrettable. As KDF personnel, we are required to uphold the core value of professionalism,” the statement said.
This is the second incident in a span of two weeks in which the KDF and the police are engaged in a scuffle.
On April 17, a similar incident was reported in Lodwar, Turkana County, when around 10 soldiers stormed a police station to free their colleagues who had been arrested for disarming a police officer at a roadblock near Turkana University College.
However, the KDF said the soldiers neither assaulted a police officer nor raided a police station, but added that investigations had been launched.
The four detained soldiers had a confrontation with a police officer while they were heading towards Moi Gardens to fetch water using a water pump.
They claimed the police delayed their trip. Several shots were fired during the incident, but no injuries were reported.
In Kilifi, a soldier is in police custody for allegedly assaulting a police officer while he was trying to forcibly free his cousin who was locked in a cell.
According to a police report seen by The Nation, the KDF soldier stormed the Bindira police station with his uncle on Saturday to free the suspect who had been arrested for assault.
“The KDF officer in question assaulted CP William Omondi No. 126492 by twisting his right hand at the wrist and punching him on the chest. They also broke the steel door and glass of the report office, which allowed the suspect to escape. They turned to the complainant of the assault case, who was also present, and strangled and beat him in the reporting office,” police said.
It took the intervention of other officers to subdue the two men and lock them in the cells.
NTV Kenya: Probe launched after KDF soldiers, police clash at Likoni ferry
