Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o has suspended the county askaris who were recorded dragging a female hawker on tarmac in Kisumu attracting wide outrage and rebuke.
Nyong’o says the county enforcement officers will be suspended until investigations into the inhuman incident are concluded.
“As investigations continue on this matter with the urgency it deserves, I have directed the City Manager to immediately suspend from duty all the officers who were involved in this incident with immediate effect, until the conclusion of the ongoing probe on the matter,” said Nyong’o in a statement.
Hawker Beatrice Atieno was arrested by the county askaris as she was selling oranges on pavements in the Kisumu central business district, where hawkers have been banned.
According to Atieno, the officers grabbed her tightly and sped off in their county vehicle refusing to let go as she screamed for help and followed by irked boda boda operators.
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In the video that has gone viral on social media, the boda boda riders chased after the pick-up to Kisumu Central Police Station in a bid get her released.
By the time she was released following the intervention of the motorcycle operators and members of the public, Atieno had sustained serious bruises and her clothes were torn.
The 39-year-old woman sustained injuries on her left hip and knee, with the Kisumu county boss calling for fast tracking of the investigations into the heinous matter.