Kenya disbands ‘killer’ police unit

Kenya’s new president, William Ruto, said he had dissolved a police unit accused of extrajudicial killings, in a move hailed by human rights groups.

The Special Service Unit (SSU), which was created more than two decades ago, has been in the spotlight as cases of disappearances and murders in the East African country soared in recent years.

“We have disbanded the unit that was killing Kenyans arbitrarily,” Ruto said on Sunday.

“Security deteriorated and the police changed to killing Kenyans instead of protecting them,” he added, referring to the tenure of the previous administration in which he was deputy president.

In January, police began an investigation after badly decomposed bodies, some of which bore signs of torture, were found in a river in western Kenya.