Crime rates increased by 8.4 per cent in 2022 - report

The total number of crimes reported to the police increased by 8.4 per cent to 88,083 in 2022.

The Economic Survey-2023 report says 81,272 cases were reported in 2021, 69,645 in 2020, 93,411 in 2019 and 88,268 in 2018.

In 2022, there were 3,056 cases of homicide, 3,281 in 2021, 3,111 in 2020, 2,971 in 2019 and 2,856 in 2018.

People reported to have committed rape cases were 827 in 2022, 1,013 in 2021, 973 in 2020, 950 in 2019 and 921 in 2018.

Defilement cases stood at 5,530 in 2022, 6,492 in 2021, 6,801 in 2020, 5,297 in 2019 and 4,767 in 2018 while sodomy cases stood at 86 in 2022, 88 in 2021, 54 in 2020, 91 in 2019 and 71 in 2018.

The report says there were 59 cases of abduction in 2022, 61 in 2021, 70 in 2020, 71 in 2019 and 52 in 2018.

The persons reported to have committed murder in 2022 hit 1,942 as compared to 2,088 in 2021, 1,781 in 2020, 1,527 in 2019 and 2,333 in 2018.

Offences against morality stood at 7,199 in 2022, 8, 182 in 2021, 9,153 in 2020, 8,051 in 2019 and 7, 233 in 2018.

There were a total of 3,125 cases of robbery in 2022, 2,456 in 2021, 2,384 in 2020, 2,858 in 2019 and 2,935 in 2018.

Stealing cases stood at 14,714 in 2022 as compared to 11,762 in 2021, 8,709 in 2020, 13,954 in 2019 and 12,845 in 2018 while criminal damage stood at 4,426 in 2022, 4,627 in 2021, 3,530 in 2020, 4,852 in 2019 and 4,783 in 2018.

Other offences against persons, stealing and offences against morality jointly accounted for more than half of the total crimes reported to the police in 2022.

The highest increase in crimes reported to the police was recorded for theft of stock (36.4 per cent) followed by traffic offences (28.5 per cent) and robbery (27.2 per cent).

Similarly,
the number of offences reported for stealing increased by 25.1 per cent to 14,718
in 2022.

There were 2,679 cases of theft of stock in 2022, 1,964 in 2021, 1,556 in 2020, 1,962 in 2019 and 2,077 in 2018 while theft of vehicles and other thefts stood at 1,459 in 2022, 1,278 in 2021, 1,031 in 2020, 1,298 in 2019 and 1,370 in 2018.

Cases of dangerous drugs stood at 6,526 in 2022, 5,743 in 2021, 4,477 in 2020, 8,011 in 2019 and 8,022 in 2018 while economic crimes hit 4,367 in 2022, 4,004 in 2021, 3,488 in 2020, 4,786 in 2019 and 4,100 in 2018.

The report did not capture cases of suicide, which are on the rise in the country.

Nairobi, Kiambu and Meru command stations accounted for the highest proportion of crimes reported at 9.7, 8.9 and 6.5 per cent, respectively, in 2022.

Samburu, Isiolo, Kiambu and Kajiado command stations also recorded significant increases in crimes during the review period.

Notable declines were however, recorded in crimes reported to the police in Kakamega (33.4 per cent), Marsabit (25.3 per cent), Siaya (20.1 per cent) and Nandi (19.0 per cent) command stations during the same period.

There were 8,512 crimes reported in Nairobi in 2022 as compared to 6,686 in 2021, 5,844 in 2020, 8,246 in 2019 and 7,128 in 2018 while Kiambu registered 7,844 cases in 2022 as compared to 5,715 in 2021.

Meru recorded 5,698 cases in 2022 as compared to 5,032 in 2021 while Samburu had 534 cases in 2022 as compared to 316 in 2021, 380 in 2020, 363 in 2019 and 436 in 2018.

In 2022, police recovered 235 illegally held rearms compared to 98 firearms recovered in 2021.

The number of rearms surrendered increased to 375 in 2022 compared to 16 rearms surrendered in 2021.

Police recovered 3,879 rounds of ammunition in 2022 down from 8,225 recovered in 2021. There was a decline in the number of dangerous drugs seized from 13,080 kilogrammes in 2021 to 5,850 kilogrammes in 2022.

The number of persons reported to have committed crimes increased by 4.4 per cent to 87,858 in 2022.

During the review period, the number of crimes committed by males increased by 2.3 per cent to 70,383 while crimes committed by females increased by 13.6 per cent to 17,475.