Residents of Rarieda Sub County have been directed to use existing legal channels instead of resorting to “kangaroo” courts when solving criminal cases or emerging disputes.
Area Deputy County Commissioner (DCC) Mr. Bosek Lang’at said that justice for both the suspects and the victims could only be achieved when they were taken to police stations and courts.
Lang’at who was speaking in Rarieda during the installation of West Katweng’a sub location Assistant Chief Mr. Esau Okoth Oduru disclosed that there was a rising trend of members of the public in the region seeking justice from illegal “kangaroo” courts.
“Suspected thieves and other criminals in the area continue to commit crime immediately they have been made to pay illegal fines by the kangaroo courts. This jeopardizes the fight against crime in the region,” said the DCC.
He said that criminal cases such as defilement resolved through Kangaroo courts have often denied victims justice as family members reach an out of court settlement against the will of the minors.
The DCC stated that anybody found conducting Kangaroo courts or informal settlements on criminal matters would be arrested and charged accordingly.
Lang’at who is also the head of security team in the region directed the police handling defilement matters not to entertain relatives of suspects pleading to settle the matter with the victim.
“If anyone comes to you pleading to have their relative who is a suspected defiler released, arrest them and charge them with interference,” Lang’at said.
Area OCPD Mr. Thomas Ototo who graced the occasion told the public to inform the police of criminal elements in the community so that the culprits could be arrested and charged.
Ototo reiterated that fight against crime could only be successful if the public cooperates with the police and not hide criminals by resorting to Kangaroo settlements.
The area in-coming assistant chief Okoth said he would crack the whip on illegal brewers in the sub location and asked them to stop the practice that is destroying many lives.
He disclosed that he would soon hold a major crackdown on the changaa dens to rid the area of brewers.
“Please go and destroy your brewing pots as a sign that you have stopped brewing because I will soon be going round and the crackdown will not spare anyone even if they are my relatives,” Okoth said.
By Brian Ondeng
