IPOA: ODPP stalling on concluded probe files on abductions and enforced disappearances
By Nancy Marende, August 31, 2025The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has raised concern over delays by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in acting on several files submitted after investigations into abductions, enforced disappearances, and killings linked to police officers.
Speaking on Sunday, August 31, 2025, IPOA chairperson Issack Hassan reaffirmed the Authority’s commitment to ensuring justice for victims and families whose loved ones were killed through unlawful means or disappeared without explanation.
The Authority said its mandate is to professionally investigate complaints against police officers and submit recommendations to the ODPP for prosecution.
“Our job as IPOA is to investigate professionally and recommend to the DPP what to do to police officers who have been accused of murder or other crimes by the public. There are a number of files which have been concluded and are still waiting for a decision from the DPP, including those related to the Gen Z protests and the anti-finance bill demonstrations,” he stated.
Furthermore, he said the authority has only 77 investigators and a workforce of 284, against a police force of 125,000.
Other concerns
Although the authority is independent, it still relies on the Interior Ministry to approve its funding before submitting the budget to the National Assembly.
This, Hassan said, coupled with poor cooperation by the National Police Service (NPS), hampers efforts to conclude investigations and enable the prosecution of errant officers.
“We need the Occurrence Book (OB), whether manual or digital, and the arms register, among other things, for our investigations. Numerous times, our investigators encounter blocks,” he said.
“Luckily, we currently have a good Inspector General who’s more responsive to IPOA because there’s one who called our investigators busybodies,” he added.
The authority, Hassan noted, has a highly professional workforce, with some investigators being retired officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Internal Audit Affairs, the military police, and the National Intelligence Service.
“What we’re lacking is personnel. We’re really under-resourced and have been trying to lobby for more funding from the government to recruit more people who can receive complaints, investigators and lawyers. IPOA needs a good team of lawyers,” he said.
He revealed that IPOA’s approved staff is 1,300, out of which 490 should be investigators.
Hassan termed the low level of confidence in public institutions, particularly the cynicism, criticism, and apathy that have resulted in escalating levels of hate speech and use of harsh language on social media, which eventually turn into violence during protests.