Policeman on leave commits suicide by hanging himself in his house

A police officer committed suicide on Thursday in his house in Dandora in the latest such incident in Nairobi.

He used a piece of clothe to hang himself in the bathroom.

The officer was identified as Constable Moses Maina Gichuki of Lokorio police station, Turkana County. He was on annual leave at the time of the incident.

His body was found hanging on a piece of clothe in his bathroom on Wednesday night. His wife found the body and later called for help. The incident is the latest in a series that have been reported in the past days amid concerns many officers are stressed and not disclosing.

Nairobi police boss Philip Ndolo said they had not known the motive of the incident.

Amid rising cases of police officers committing suicide, the National Police Service has rolled out a Psycho-Education programme targeting officers of various ranks in the service.

Inspector General of police Hilary Mutyambai said the exercise will first target those in Nairobi command before it is rolled to other counties.

This comes in the wake of increased cases of suicide in the service.

Two weeks ago, two police officers committed suicide in Mandera and Tala increasing to more than a dozen officers who have died in three months.

The trend is shocking which has forced authorities to move in and tame it.

Mutyambai asked police not to kill themselves and instead seek help.

“Talk to your friends, colleagues, relatives and anyone that can help solve an issue disturbing you. Male officers are the most affected and need to open up,” he said.

National Police Service Commission (NPSC) had announced it had established Service Counseling and Rehabilitation Centre to assist the service in addressing psychosocial stress-related problems affecting the officers.

This was after it conducted a scientific study to explore on possible solutions to end suicide cases among the officers.

Police authorities had in 2016 received a report on the causes of shootings by police officers targeting their colleagues.

The probe was done by a team of officers led by Aggrey Adoli with a view to establishing the causes and also remedial actions.

Two weeks ago, a police officer attached to Umoja camp committed suicide by bursting his head using a rifle.

In March this year police in Luala-Kotiende Police Station in Bondo sub-county on discovered the body of one of their colleagues hanging from the roof of his house.

They had reportedly gone to check on him after he failed to report to work.

It is suspected that the incident occurred as a result of domestic issues.