Police vigilance wanting

The case of Mr John Kilonzi, alias Karunyu; the man from Kitui County who has been on the run for the 2013 murder of 12 villagers in Mwingi only to discovered in a police cell in Makueni where he had been arrested for a different crime would be comical were it not sad. But it is also an indictment on the police.

People arrested or convicted of crime are routinely fingerprinted as a rule. Mr Karunyu, who was arrested at Emali in Makueni County last week without identification papers, apparently gave the police a fictitious name.

These and other gaps highlight the deficiencies in the police investigations department that criminals exploit to evade arrest and prosecution and even conviction. It also offers proof that because of shoddy investigations by the police, there is high likelihood that there are people in jail who shouldn't be there had the police carried out thorough investigations. And that criminals could be walking free. This incident once again makes it necessary for the acquisition of a police forensic lab.