Kimaiyo to create own intelligence unit to match NIS

NAIROBI, KENYA: Police will no longer fully rely on the National Intelligence Service (NIS) for crime updates.

This comes at a time when the police have been criticised for not acting on intelligence by NIS to prevent crimes.

However, there apparently has been some disquiet within the police service that information received from NIS is not conclusive and rarely reliable.

Plans are under way to expand the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) to ensure that police get sound intelligence they act on.

This is a welcome move within the service, headed by Inspector General David Kimaiyo (pictured),considering the accusations of failure to act on information provided by the NIS.

The Westgate mall attack and recent killings in Mpeketoni have been blamed on failure by the police to act on intelligence provided by NIS.

The CIU is a task force within the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), where Francis Muhoro is in charge.

The unit, headed by Maalim Issak, is based at Mazingira House, the DCI headquarters. Muhoro said plans are at an advanced stage to have CIU officers posted in all corners of the country.

"We want it to be active. Our sister NIS agency will supplement whatever work we are doing," said the DCI boss.

The security boss also said that works on the long-awaited forensic laboratory are on, with the first phase of the construction nearing completion.

Absence of a forensic lab has been blamed on shoddy police investigations. Some suspects have been freed for lack of incriminating evidence. A number of murders, some dating many years back, have also remained unresolved due to lack of forensic evidence.