The acting Head of Kisumu City Inspectorate Wilberforce Lugusa Ndagona has tendered his resignation after a viral video of the county askaris humiliating a trader.
The officials in a speeding county pick-up track were captured on camera dragging Beatrice Magolo tarmac road last Wednesday.
The woman, who was filmed hanging behind the vehicle with her lower limbs on the tarmac, suffered bruises on her left hip and knee.
She had reportedly been arrested for hawking oranges and lemons in the Central Business District. The incident elicited an angry reaction from members of the public who called for dismissal of the officials who committed the inhumane act.
In a letter seen by this writer dated March 26, two days after the incident, Lugusa said the act ‘committed was unconscionable, diabolical and against all the rules of natural justice’.
“I Wilberforce Lugusa Ndagona do hereby tender my resignation as the acting Head of The Inspectorate of the County Government of Kisumu on account of the matter which occurred on the 24th of March, 2021 involving certain junior officers under my watch and a lady, a mother, grabbed and dragged along a street,” the letter directed to Kisumu County Governor Anyang’ Nyongo reads.
Read: Uproar as Kisumu Askaris In Speeding Pick-up Truck Drag Woman On The Road
“The act committed was unconscionable, diabolical and against all the rules of natural justice. I hereby take full and moral responsibility for the acts committed thereto.
“I hereby extend my deepest regret to all the people of Kisumu county and the nation as a whole, for this is not what the County Government of Kisumu represents. I take this opportunity to express my most sincere gratitude for the opportunity you gave me to serve in your most able government.”
Nine askaris linked to the incident were on Friday arraigned and charged with assault. They denied the charges and were released on Sh50,000 each.
Read Also: Governor Nyong’o Suspends 12 Askaris Captured Dragging Woman on Tarmac
The Kisumu county government on Thursday announced that the officials had been suspended pending a probe into the incident.
“As investigations continue on this matter with the urgency it deserves, I have directed the City Manager to immediately suspend from duty all the officers who were involved in this incident with immediate effect, until the conclusion of the ongoing probe on the matter,” said Nyongo in a statement.
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