Kenyan Soldiers Accused of Forcing Lamu Residents to Swim in Sewage

Officers from the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) are on the spot over claims that they forced residents of Mpeketoni, Lamu County to swim in raw sewage.

Residents say the soldiers who were deployed in the area for operation Linda Boni with an aim of flushing out Al Shabaab militants hiding in Boni Forest have been torturing and harassing them.

The Star reports that the latest incident occurred on Monday when several residents found walking home from work during the night were forced to swim in muddy sewage. 

One of the victims, Kathleen Wanjiru, says the military officers stopped her and asked her to roll in sewage as she walked home after closing her bar in Mpeketoni at 11pm.

This, she says, was despite identifying herself through an ID card and explaining where she was coming from.

 "They said they would teach me a lesson so I won't walk at night again. It was the most humiliating experience of my life," Wanjiru says.

"I was not alone. I saw an elderly man who is respected in Mpeketoni also undergoing the same. It was very embarrassing,” Wanjiru notes, adding that the officers laughed as they suffered.

Other residents claim the officers force them to frog-jump countless times before setting them free.

“By the time they were telling me to go, I could barely stand. I collapsed in front of them but they just laughed and left me there," another residents explains. "The soldiers are merciless,” he adds.

Haki Africa officer in Lamu Yunus Issakia says the government must take action against the soldiers.

“If the curfew is back, let the government inform residents instead of the harassment in the hands of KDF. These are people who are being treated like animals,yet they didn’t commit any crime,”says Issakia.

KDF is yet to respond to the claims even as photos of the said incidents emerged on social media.