By Mercy Juma
Kenya’s national police have condemned a video showing a group of newly graduated officers boasting about how they are “the bad ones”.
It has been widely circulated on social media in the east African country, with many users voicing concerns.
Police bosses have called their remarks “irresponsible, unacceptable and reckless”.
The video goes to reinforce the view of many Kenyans that some of their police officers can behave like thugs.
“This is it, this it … we have finished, we are done. We are representing, what is this? Red beret!” one of the group says in the video in the Kenyan slang, Sheng.
“We are coming outside now [graduating], and we are the bad ones! Pa! Pa! Pa! Squad 26! We are the bad ones.”
Kenyans on social media have been sharing concerns over the video, with some saying it portrays a group of men more keen on issuing threats than serving the people.
Others say their words imply the group is threatening to harshly deal with civilians upon graduating.
The video comes at a time when cases of police brutality in Kenya have been increasing, just months before the general election.
Kenya has a long history of officers using excessive force when enforcing law, often resulting in deaths, but security officers are rarely held to account.
In a statement, the national police said an internal review was ongoing with a view of taking appropriate measures regarding the incident.
The police said the clip did not reflect the views of the General Service Unit (GSU), a paramilitary wing in the Kenyan police service.
But some on social media mocked this assertion.
The controversy comes after a Kenyan police officer shot dead his wife and five other people with an AK-47 on Tuesday.
