All Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives attached to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) have been recalled to Mazingira House headquarters and the unit disbanded.
According to a police signal issued by DCI headquarters on February 2 and signed by Director of Personnel Julius Muthama Kitili, the government has decided to recall all officers assigned to KRA offices across the country.
As a result, all the detectives, who had been under the command of an officer in the rank of Commissioner of Police were ordered to report back to the DCI headquarters for redeployment and the unit disbanded.
Detectives attached to KRA have been used to gather and disseminate criminal intelligence, as well as detect and prevent tax evasion, revenue leakages, and the manufacture, sale, and importation of counterfeit and contraband goods.
Though there are concerns that the move will have an impact on KRA’s overall operations, particularly the crackdown on counterfeits, tax evasion, and investigations into economic crimes, it is unclear when the agency plans to form a special unit to perform the duties previously performed by DCI detectives.
In September last year, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua claimed that DCI officers had in recent years, been abusing their positions and harassing persons holding elected seats, specifically governors, which he claims impedes the officials from carrying out their constitutional mandate.
Gachagua stated that the DCI does not have the authority to intervene in the affairs of state agencies unless it is a matter of great public importance, and that as a result, the sleuths agency should refrain from laying siege to county government offices in order to apprehend any alleged corrupt officials.
“We have told DCI to go back to Kiambu Road and wait for crimes to be reported there. They have no business in government offices hovering all over and creating a toxic environment for service delivery,” he was quoted.
“We cannot have detectives in government offices because they poison the atmosphere for civil servants to deliver.”
Similarly, the DP slammed the DCI for allegedly dispatching junior-level police officers to arrest high-ranking elected leaders, noting that this undermines the leaders’ powers and authority in the eyes of their subordinates.
