NAIROBI, Kenya April 15 \u2013 The National Police Service (NPS) has attributed the deadly violence witnessed during protests at Ishiara Level 4 Hospital in Embu County to criminal elements who allegedly hijacked an otherwise peaceful demonstration.<\/p>\n
In a press statement issued by the Office of the Inspector General, the police confirmed that two people lost their lives during the unrest on April 14, while several others were injured.<\/p>\n
According to the NPS, the Evurore Ward community had formally notified authorities of a planned peaceful protest over conditions at Ishiara Level 4 Hospital.<\/p>\n
However, police say the situation quickly deteriorated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough the protests began well, what was witnessed soon afterwards was a shocking and unacceptable degeneration into criminal acts and violence by people who were not peaceful protestors,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
Authorities reported that businesses were vandalised and bystanders injured as chaos escalated.<\/p>\n
Police stated that officers intervened to restore order but were met with resistance from individuals allegedly armed with crude weapons, including stones and other projectiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police swiftly intervened to restore law and order, only to be met with more violence from criminal elements,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n
The service maintained that the initial intentions of the protest were overtaken by individuals not interested in peaceful demonstrations.<\/p>\n
The NPS confirmed that the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has been notified and will conduct independent investigations into the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police shall give maximum cooperation to this independent body,\u201d the statement noted, adding that a full accountability process is underway.<\/p>\n
Authorities have also appealed to members of the public to share any information that could assist investigations through police stations or official communication channels.<\/p>\n
The police reiterated their commitment to transparency and accountability, pledging to work closely with IPOA to establish the circumstances that led to the fatalities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe National Police Service assures the public of its steadfast commitment to the law and pledges transparency and accountability,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n
The protests were sparked by growing public outrage over the state of Ishiara Level 4 Hospital, with residents citing poor services, understaffing, and deteriorating infrastructure.<\/p>\n
The incident has since drawn national attention, with leaders and civil society groups calling for justice, accountability, and reforms in both healthcare service delivery and policing.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NAIROBI, Kenya April 15 \u2013 The National Police Service (NPS) has attributed the deadly violence witnessed during protests at Ishiara Level 4 Hospital in Embu County to criminal elements who allegedly hijacked an otherwise peaceful demonstration. In a press statement issued by the Office of the Inspector General, the police confirmed that two people lost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}