Bar owner, revelers ‘assaulted’ by GSU officers over woman

A bar owner is seeking justice after he and other revelers were allegedly assaulted by 8 police officers from the General Service Unit (GSU) in Meru County.

The bar owner, Richard Koome, who was hit with a stone on the mouth, was rendered unconscious after he intervened to settle a dispute between the officers and other revelers.

Eyewitnesses say trouble started when one of the officers made advances towards a woman who was enjoying herself with another man in Mutuate.

According to Koome, the officers, who were already inebriated, entered the packed bar and forcefully demanded seating.

Shortly after they were seated, one of the officers approached the lady, who turned down his advances.

Fighting broke out, and the officers reportedly revelers.

This is when Koome intervened, only to be knocked out by one of the drunk GSU officers.

Isaac Mwiti, a friend of Koome’s, claimed that the officers were attacking people indiscriminately. They broke the windows in the scuffle. The commotion attracted the attention of the villagers who were forced to intervene, thinking the officers were thieves.

Koome’s father, Pharis Mboya, said this is not the first time that the officers are being implicated in a bar fight.

He urged the Cabinet Secretary Internal Security and Coordination Joseph Nkaissery to intervene as the officers based in that area have been unruly.

In May 2015, a Kenya Police Service officer shot and killed his female colleague and a General Service Unit officer (GSU) before killing himself at a bar in Kinisa Market in Igembe North, Meru County.

The GSU officer, who was a chief inspector, and the female officer were drinking at the bar when the enraged officer shot at them, killing them instantly before turning the gun on himself.

The killer officer, who was based at Laare Police Station, is said to have been angry at the woman because she jilted him.