Under Iteere, police have brought crime rate down

By CYRUS OMBATI

For Commissioner of Police Mathew Iteere, 2010 was a successful year in all ways as his team kept crime at manageable levels.

Mr Iteere is turning one year in office in the period, having succeeded Maj-Gen (rtd) Hussein Ali at a time crime was a thorn in the flesh, given the limited resources the forces have.

Statistics showed rape and defilement remained the most prevalent crimes this year, even as other crimes reduced by five per cent.

There were 57,828 crimes reported compared to 61,120 last year. This translates to a reduction of 3,293 cases.

The Police Force, under the leadership of Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere are satisfied they maintained law and order this year, better than last year. [PHOTO: File/STANDARD]

Of these, 785 were rape incidents compared to 729 reported last year, with 2,660 children defiled against last year’s 2,242.

Robbery increased from the previous year’s 618 to 626 while manslaughter increased from 41 to 57 cases.

Trafficking in narcotics increased from 224 to 308 while cases of obtaining items by false pretence rose from 1,083 to 1,475.

Fraud and forgery also shot up by 181 cases this year from the 307 reported last year. Theft by directors hit 62 cases from last year’s 53.

Recovered guns

It was on February 1 that police recovered 31,211 bullets from a house in Narok. Police had earlier on in December 7, last year, recovered six guns from the same premises and arrested the owner, Munir Haroon Ishmail, who is among the suspects facing various charges.

The destination of the ammunition is yet to be known though some officers believe they were headed to a neighbouring country.

On March 11, seven taxi drivers were shot dead by police in Nairobi’s Kawangware area after a confrontation with boda boda operators.

Following protests, seven Administration Police officers were arrested and later charged with the murder of the drivers.

At Uhuru Park, during a campaign against the then Proposed Constitution on June 13, six people were killed and 72 injured following grenade attacks. Police are yet to make any arrest following the incident.

On September 13, police arrested two men ferrying male genitalia that they had severed from a body at the Kenyatta National Hospital mortuary to sell in Tanzania. Their case is in court.

On November 6, in Mbeere, Embu, an Administration Police officer went berserk and shot dead ten people including his two colleagues as he looked for his girlfriend, who had allegedly infected him with a venereal disease. The officer was later arrested and taken to court.

On February 12, more than Sh300 million that was on transit was stolen from a van in Mombasa. Out of the money, police say Sh80 million was recovered and seven suspects arrested.

On October 1, another Sh80 million was stolen from the Co-operative Bank headquarters in Nairobi when thugs disguised as G4S personnel went and collected the money that was destined for various ATMs in Upper Hill area. Nine suspects are facing charges over the incident.

In Kibera slums, Nairobi, 15 people died on July 20, after consuming illicit brew containing methanol.

In Ngobit, Kakai village, six other people died on August 10 after consuming illicit brew.

More than 300,000 litres of the drink were later netted in swoops in the city.

It is in the same period that the Alcoholic Drinks Control Act 2010 came into force. The law will facilitate the enforcement of health standards, regulation, advertisement, sale of brews and location of brewers and retailers.

Organised gangs

The Prevention of Organised Crimes Act 2010 also came into effect, dealing a major blow to various organised gangs including Mungiki, Sungusungu, Al-Shabaab and Oromo Liberation Front. The law has stringent measures on anyone found to be a member of a banned group.

In the same period, Iteere raised concerns over rising cases of family and gender violence, with more fatalities reported as he called for research to establish the causes.

"Most of these cases were perpetrated by fathers who then committed or attempted to commit suicide," he said.

The figures showed a major reduction in theft of stock, burglaries, vehicle theft, offences against persons, criminal damage, theft by servants, and homicide.

Kidnapping dropped from 85 reported last year to 65, while incest increased by 35 cases from last year’s 157.

There were four terrorism related incidents this year that claimed more than ten lives. The police boss said some of them were still under investigation.

Some 2,576 people had by mid-December died in various accidents out of the 7,896 reported, while there were 7,862 noted last year.

This year, 128 rifles, 60 pistols, ten toy guns and 36,458 bullets were recovered from various incidents. In places of disarmament, another 1,064 firearms and 3,078 bullets were recovered.

The figures showed 3,557 foreigners were arrested this year including 2,407 Somalis, 801 Ethiopians and 182 Tanzanians.

According to the crimes report, all provinces recorded a decrease in crimes committed with the exception of Nairobi, which had a 28 per cent increase and North Eastern Province that recorded a 15 per cent increase.

Eastern Province recorded a 10 per cent decrease, Central nine, Western seven, Coast six and Rift Valley six per cent.

Iteere attributed the figures to high illiteracy levels, poor urban planning, poverty, unemployment, drug and substance abuse, inadequate distribution of resources, presence of criminal gangs and proliferation of guns.

The commissioner regretted resources provided for prevention, detection and investigation were not enough to address the security situation.

"In Nairobi alone, four CID divisions do not have any vehicles while others are operating with very old and dilapidated ones," he said.

He added they had put various measures in place to ensure security is fully addressed, which include creation of three more police divisions in Nairobi.