The President William Ruto’s nascent administration has for the last four months been grappling to tame skyrocketing crime surge and runaway gangland style criminal activities in major towns and emboldened banditry activities in Northern Kenya.
Manifested by daring daylight armed robberies in Nairobi, Nakuru Mombasa and devastating killings of security officers and vulnerable civilians by bandits in Samburu, Pokot, Marsabit and Turkana, the organised gangs have turned the country into a criminal paradise causing fear and apprehension among citizens.
Although President Ruto has since issued a stern warning against criminals, a position that has been amplified by Interior and Coordination of National government Kithure Kindiki and Inspector General Japhet Koome, crime related activities remain at an all-time high.
The gruesome killing of the Standard Group journalist Moses Omusolo whose lifeless body was found dumped in a ditch along Kangundo Road in Kayole, Nairobi.
He had a deep cut on the right side of the head and police are investigating the matter.
The rising wave of crime was preceded by change of guard in the security sector after the former Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss George Kinoti resigned and the former Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai proceeded on terminal leave. Mutyambai’s term ends in March 2023.
Kinoti’s exit was occasioned by President Ruto’s public condemnation of police squads linked to extrajudicial executions and what he termed as weaponised war on graft.
The Head of State directed the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) to announce a vacancy and advertise the position.
“The commission will get someone to act in that position for now as we wait for the other processes to fill the position,” Ruto said.
Since the change of guard, organised armed and knife wielding gangs have turned Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) and its environs to a criminal paradise, a situation that is being replicated in other towns across the country.
In Nairobi, cases of insecurity have increased in recent months characterised by muggings and robberies which were linked to silent police go-slow.
However, Kindiki dismissed claims of a police boycott.
However, some officers who spoke to The Informer revealed that there is a bigger problem which has triggered the situation.
“The review includes everything about policing, their equipment, their salaries, their housing, their mortgages, and their health care…The whole idea is to adjust it to the cost of living, but also to make it at least as near at par as possible with the other coders who have equal standing within the public sector,” Kindiki noted.
He said the government was keen to promote a political police force saying officers will not be coerced into taking political sides or performing extraneous duties outside their code of conduct.
Additionally, former Nairobi Police Commander James Mugera, claimed that the crime rate was reduced.
Mugera, on November 11, alleged that the reports were doctored to damage the image of President Ruto’s administration.
In the Northern and North-Rift regions of the country, unsilenced gangs of bandits have caused agony leaving a trail of death with both civilians and security officers being the major casualties.
The rising cases of insecurity in the North Rift have led to the loss of hundreds of lives, displacement of residents, and loss of thousands of livestock.
Last month, the Ministry of Interior revealed that an ongoing operation targeting cattle rustlers and other bandits in the North Rift and other parts of the country had recovered over 700 livestock.
The ministry stated that nearly 500 goats, 70 heads of cattle, and 200 camels that had been stolen in Turkana, Baringo, and Isiolo counties had since been returned to their owners under the operation “Komesha Uhalifu” which was recently launched by the government.
President Ruto ordered a crackdown against cattle rustling and lawlessness that has plagued the North Rift region and other arid parts of the country.
He warned that the government will deal ruthlessly with armed criminals hiding under cultural practices to steal livestock while killing and maiming innocent citizens.
During a full cabinet meeting convened by President Ruto at State House, the cabinet sanctioned the deployment of a specialised force from the General Service Unit (GSU) and the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) to augment the police in dealing with the surging insecurity that has been witnessed in the capital.
In the midst of insecurity cases, President Ruto ordered the disbandment of the defunct Special Service Unit (SSU) formerly domiciled under the DCI and formed by Kinoti.
This is after the new DCI boss, Amin Mohamed, presented the report to President Ruto, at State House, that recommended disbanding of the unit to pave way for the conclusion of investigations on the disappearance of two Indian nationals and their local taxi driver.
The two Indians—Mohamed Zaid Kidwai and Zulfiqar Ahmen Khan—are reported to have arrived in the country in April this year to join President Ruto’s ICT campaign team but went missing on July 25 after they were abducted outside Ole Sereni Hotel together with their taxi driver, Nicodemus Mwania.
On September 15, Acting Inspector-General of Police Noor Gabow directed the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) to take over the investigation and submit a report within 21 days.
The unit arrested several detectives and intelligence officers, interrogated them, and released them last week before Amin was asked to present the findings to the President.
In October, it was announced that Amin had directed the disbanding of the unit and reassigning its members.
“The DCI Special Service Unit (SSU) has been disbanded with immediate effect. This follows a directive from the AG Inspector General, Noor Gabow. All officers serving in the disbanded unit have been recalled to DCI headquarters for further instructions. This comes as the National Police Service prepares for reorganisation under the new administration,” the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) tweeted.
Ruto said that the disbandment was part of the changes in the offing as the new administration sought to overhaul the management of security in the country.
“I am the one who ordered that the Special Service Unit, which was conducting extrajudicial killings, be disbanded. We have a plan on how to secure this country so that we avoid the shame of Kenyans killed [by the police and their bodies dumped] in Yala River and others. We are going to change this country for the better,” Ruto said while addressing a thanksgiving service in Kericho county.
Yala River has made headlines in the past year due to the dozens of bodies that have been recovered in the area.
There have been suspicions that police are involved in the deaths and human rights activists have demanded an investigation.
Adding to the list of unanswered questions is the death of renowned Pakistani journalist, Arshad Sharif who was allegedly shot dead by police officers manning a roadblock along Magadi road in Kajiado county.
Some sources claimed that his death was a “targeted attack”.
Post mortem results conducted by Kenyan pathologists on the deceased indicated that Sharif was shot between the shoulder and head in what police termed as a case of mistaken identity.
A second autopsy report conducted by Indian pathologists revealed that a metal which they identified as a bullet was found lodged in his chest.
The report also revealed that the Pakistani journalist died 10 to 30 minutes after he was shot in the brain and lung.
Due to the rising surge of insecurity in the country, President Ruto met with security chiefs from the National Police Service, the National Intelligence Service and other agencies responsible for the fight against crime on Tuesday November 15.
The meeting was convened due to the increase in crime in the country blamed on police inaction.
Shortly after being sworn in as IG, Koome reiterated that crime will not be allowed under his watch, noting that police will use the powers bestowed upon them by the constitution to deal with the prevailing security challenges.
The IG has condemned the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), the civilian oversight body against police officers as “busy-bodies” saying police are allowed to use justifiable force according to the law.