On Saturday, a distressing incident unfolded at the Likoni channel in Mombasa, involving officers from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the Kenya Police.
A video capturing the incident went viral, showing a KDF officer slapping a guard from the Kenya Ferry Service.
Subsequently, the KDF officer approached a Kenya Police officer who attempted to intervene, accompanied by fellow armed colleagues.
Shockingly, the KDF officer proceeded to attack the Kenya Police officer, while his fellow police colleagues tried to intervene.
The video also captured a concerned woman questioning why KDF officers would assault a fellow officer from the police force, considering they share the same line of work.
“Ni nini? Mbona mnatufayia hivo? Sote tuko kazi moja mbona mnatufanyai hivi?” the unidentified lady is heard asking.
This translates to, “What is it? Why do you do that to us? We are all in the same job, why are you doing this to us?”
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On looking citizens are heard wondering what could have led to the altercation.
Reports say that following the incident, two police officers sustained injuries.
The KDF officers were heading back to Mtongwe Navy base when the incident occurred.
The KDF in a statement after the video went viral said investigations into the incident have commenced.
“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,” KDF said.
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This is the second incident in less than a month that KDF officers have been accused of engaging in a fight with police officers.
About two weeks ago, Police at Lodwar Police Station arrested Kenya Defence Forces soldiers who allegedly slapped and disarmed their colleague at a roadblock for delaying to remove spikes on the road.
A police report said the KDF officers were riding in a water bowser at the time of the incident around 11 am.
Police said the officer who was disarmed was manning a road block at Mt Kenya area in the company of three other officers from Turkana county enforcement Department.
The KDF however, rubbished the claims.
“Notably, it has so far been established that; KDF soldiers neither, “assaulted” police officers nor, “stormed” the station as alleged,” KDF said in a statement.
“The orchestration of the detainment is demeaning in context, intended to embarrass, humiliate, and create alarm. The incident, though localized and occurring at a tactical level, is of great concern to the entire KDF fraternity. It also degrades the complementary spirit in Multi-Agency environments and operations,” KDF said.
KDF further said that joint investigations by the relevant authorities are probing the matter.
