Subukia DCP drama: When police operations land on your doorstep!

Screaming children and women scampering for safety, teargas smoke and crushed maize fields.

This was the reality on Sunday in Kwa Kihinga, Subukia after police clashed with Democratic Change Party (DCP) members in a bid to prevent party members from accessing Bahati and Maili Sita from Subukia.

Daniel Mukera, a Subukia residents says the political visit quickly turned into a manhunt-style operation, with innocent residents paying the price.

Mukera’s biggest concern was the damage to property that was witnessed as residents, caught off guard by the chaos ran to safety others being forced to close their shops.

“So who will compensate the mother whose kiosk was damaged as people scampered for safety? Who will replace the stock lost in the market and the hours we closed down our work?” he questions, referring to the damage faced by residents after police started lobbing tear gas.

Mukera continues, “Our farms became escape routes and our crops were destroyed. Our people were terrified some have never experienced being teargassed first hand. Also, the traffic jam that ensued after was unnecessary,” he explains.

He notes that even the animals grazing by the road were not spared.

In Nakuru instances where a fracas has ensued in residential areas due to a police operation is not new.

Back in April during the National Drama Festivals, Nakuru was turned into a confrontation ground when police challenged former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala outside Kirobon Girls entrance.

Residents near the school were left in fear as tear gas exploded that night. They thought their children were under attack.

In January 2025, in Kivumbini school children were caught in the crossfire between police and protestors demanding the return of fisherman Brian Odhiambo.

More than 20 students from Kimathi secondary school were also rushed to Langalanga hospital, many of them showing signs of difficulty in breathing.

Later in February 4,2025 a woman in Kivumbini died after she developed complication from a teargas thrown in her house during the same protest.

The question that now lingers is who takes responsibility when police operations in residential areas lead to destruction of property and in extreme cases, loss of life?

And more importantly when will it stop?