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New DCI boss promises professionalism and justice for all

Amin told The Star he will let the Constitution to guide his operations and pledged to serve all with fairness

In Summary
  • He served as the Provincial Criminal Investigations Officer between 2006 and 2009 in Rift Valley. In the 2007/8 post-poll period, the region experienced the worst chaos out of the outcomes.

  • Amin was at the centre of investigations that followed and ended up at the International Criminal Court. He went to the Hague and served as a witness for former Commissioner of Police Maj Gen Hussein Ali.
Amin Ibrahim Mohamed gestures as he speaks to press during DCI interviews at Kenya School of Government on October 11, 2022/ANDREW KASUKU
Amin Ibrahim Mohamed gestures as he speaks to press during DCI interviews at Kenya School of Government on October 11, 2022/ANDREW KASUKU

The new director general of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Mohamed Amin, says he will embrace professionalism to ensure justice for all.

Amin said he will let the Constitution guide his operations and pledged to serve all with fairness.

“We will ensure everyone gets justice. From robbery, forgery, murder to all forms of crimes that will come to us, will be handled professionally.

“I promise my fellow Kenyans that I will run the DCI in the most professional manner possible. I will be firm and fair in executing my duties while observing the rule of law, knowing that our Constitution is the Supreme law of the land," Amin said.

He said his predecessor George Kinoti had achieved much and assured he will move the agency to a new level.

“Teamwork is key and I will ensure all agencies in the government work with us in achieving this goal.”

He said the National Police Service has professional personnel and with the goodwill of Kenyans and the government, they will go far.

He spoke to the Star ahead of his planned swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Court of Kenya.

“We are ready and able to deliver,” he said.

As the outgoing director of the police’s Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) Amin, 58, is a senior assistant inspector general of police.

He was one of the senior-most officers in the shortlist of ten that had been invited to the interview for the position and emerged number one.

On October 14, President William Ruto appointed him as the new DCI. He takes over from ex-DCI George Kinoti.

Ruto made the appointment in a special notice dated October 14.

The commission met the President on Friday morning for a briefing on the outcomes of the interviews.

He comes to office when there are many expectations from the country at large.

Crime rate is on the rise and, in some political quarters, the DCI is being blamed for all manner of crimes, which Amin promised to address.

Amin has a Masters degree in Criminology and Security Management from Egerton University.

He also has a degree in Criminology and Security Studies from Egerton University and a diploma in international studies from University of Nairobi. He has a certificate from the National Defence College.

He has been in the service since he joined the police in 1989.

He has served as the director of IAU since February 2020 during which he received and investigated dozens of complaints against police.

He has been the head of the banking fraud unit at Central Bank, head of DCI in Rift Valley, North Eastern, Central, Western and head of Small Arms and Light Weapons.

He also served at the defunct Anti-Corruption Police Unit in 2002 and as a DCIO at Langata, Kilindini, Thika and Mandera divisions.

When he graduated from Kenya Police College in Kiganjo in 1989, he was deployed to Bungoma and taken to the crime branch and later moved to Pangani in Nairobi in the same office, and later to Kasarani.

He also served as the head of operations, and investigations units at the DCI headquarters.

He served as the Provincial Criminal Investigations Officer between 2006 and 2009 in Rift Valley. In the 2007/8 post-poll period, the region experienced the worst chaos out of the outcomes.

Amin was at the centre of investigations that followed and ended up at the International Criminal Court. He went to the Hague and served as a witness for former Commissioner of Police Maj Gen Hussein Ali.

If any, that is where President Ruto knew who the man was.

He said he successfully investigated a case involving former Deputy Chief Justice Nancy Baraza versus Rebecca Kerubo and testified before the Judicial Service Commission sub-committee and the Tribunal chaired by retired former Chief Justice Augustino Ramadhani in 2012.

He also investigated and prosecuted the murder case of the late Bishop Luigi Locati of Isiolo Diocese and prosecuted a Catholic Priest and five others. The case is still before High Court, Nairobi, 2005.

“I successfully coordinated investigations and prosecution of Post-Election Violence cases in Rift Valley province: 2007-2008,” he told The Star.

He conducted investigations and prosecution into atrocities committed by Sabaot Land Defense Force (SLDF) in Trans-Nzoia County in 2007.

Further, he enhanced the standard of investigations by mentoring, guiding and training junior officers at all levels in my assignment in the country.

“I prudently budgeted for my Provincial, Divisional, and investigations Bureau offices within the financial regulations according to treasury guidelines,” his CV reads.

He was a member of the National Task Force on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism since 2009 and a member of the Multi-Agency Task Force on Post-Election Violence in Kenya since 2012.

His colleagues described him as a dedicated and focused officer. The Ruto administration has already indicated that the new DCI will operate differently from Kinoti who used his experience from his days as the police spokesman to conduct the agency’s operations in the full glare of the media and public.


While this approach increased the visibility of the DCI making it more approachable and a darling of the public, it rubbed some of those in power the wrong way especially when they were under investigation.

The DCI is one the most powerful units in the National Police Service.

The main functions of the DCI include collection and provision of criminal intelligence, investigations on serious crimes including homicides, narcotics, money laundering and economic crimes, maintaining of law and order and detection and prevention of crime.

They also apprehend offenders, maintain criminal records, coordinate country Interpol Affairs, carry out investigations of matters that may be referred to it by the Independent Police Oversight Authority.

The DCI controls its budget for the over 7,000 personnel under its control. The personnel are currently deployed to various government offices to conduct their mandate.

The main units under DCI include Anti-Terror Police Unit, Anti-Narcotics Unit, Interpol regional bureau, DCI Academy, Bomb Disposal Unit and Banking Fraud among others.

The next place the changes are expected is the seat of the Inspector General where the commandant of Kenya Police Training Campus Japheth Koome has been named as the next police boss. More changes are also expected in the other top seats within the service.

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