Men are the majority of homicide victims in Kenya,
a 2024 study has revealed.
The study conducted by the National Crime Research Centre (NCRC) found that men were the primary victims, especially in cases related to cattle rustling, communal conflicts, drunken altercations, land-related conflicts and many mob violence cases resulting from suspicions of theft.
Women were predominantly killed in incidents of domestic violence, land/property succession disputes, love triangles and other crime-of-passion related incidents, the report said.
“In some places, the perpetrators targeted people
in employment and the business persons/community. In other places, elderly
women, especially those living alone in rural areas and whose husbands were far
away working in towns, were often victims of rape and killings.”
“Women returning home from funeral vigils and
disco matanga in places such as Busia were also targets,” the report dubbed
‘Study on Homicides in Kenya’ found out.
Men were found to be the overwhelming majority of
victims as well as the perpetrators of homicides, while women were largely
victims, with few cases of female perpetrators.
The study was conducted after NCRC was directed
to undertake the research following a surge in homicides, including the killing
of women and girls, which raised concerns about what may have led to the surge in
the year 2024 that raised considerable public and official concern and hence
necessitated immediate action.
The agency also sought to assess the nature and
details of the apparent surge, what accounted for it, what the data means in
terms of victims and perpetrators and whether there were particular
areas/localities and circumstances associated with the increase, as well as make
recommendations on what would stem the tide of the killings and assist relevant
agencies in their prevention and response interventions.
It found that there was no single driver of the
various killings across the country, rather, there was a host of drivers that
intersect at the individual, family and society levels.
According to the findings, land conflicts were at
the heart of many of the disputes that led to killings within families, among
neighbours and business partners and also fueled animosity between communities.
Many of those interviewed pointed out that land disputes linked to succession within families were a common reason for the killings. Others were linked to disputes over land between buyers and sellers.
Border areas where different ethnic communities have long-running land and resource conflicts were also hotspots for the killings.
Tensions and conflicts over grazing and farming sometimes led to deaths and revenge killings.
For instance, in the Narok-Kisii, Bomet-Kisii and
Isiolo border areas, some of the killings were attributed to these conflicts
while, a significant number of homicides, and, in particular, those of women
and girls occurred in private settings such as homes in both the rural and
urban areas, rental apartments, hotels, as well as Airbnb mainly in the urban
areas.
The killings were often perpetrated by intimate
partners, family members, or business and other acquaintances, and were linked
to domestic disputes, business wrangles and gender-based violence.
The study drew insights from the National Police
Service (NPS) annual statistics on homicides, the 2024 data on homicides as
recorded by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and data from 20
to 30 interviews with key informants and focus group discussions in each of the
15 counties including Vihiga, Busia, Kakamega, Embu, Isiolo, Homa Bay, Kisii,
Kisumu, Nakuru, Narok, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kiambu, Nyeri, and Nairobi.
It also checked on police records of the cases and
established that in 2024, the DCI recorded 1,011 cases of homicides, 70 per cent of whom were male, with females accounting for 30 per cent.
Of the perpetrators, 630 were male, and 88 were female, with several cases where the perpetrators were not known. There were 149 such incidents.
“In summary, the 2024 DCI data of
reported/recorded incidents shows that males were the highest number of
victims. This might sound surprising, given the many cases of killings of women
reported in Kenyan media.”
“Police data is, however, quite reliable, and the
higher percentage of male victimisation is consistent with the records over
time and like those from other countries across the world. Male perpetrators
were the overwhelming majority in all cases,” the findings show.
The study also assessed the NPS annual statistics, which were found to have recorded a total of 3,015 cases of homicides classified
as murder, manslaughter, infanticide, procuring abortion, concealing birth,
suicide, and causing death by dangerous driving.
NCRC noted the NPS data differed from that of the
DCI due to the inclusion of dangerous driving cases, which are handled by the
traffic department and not the DCI.
The report said there are also many cases at the
recording stage that are categorised by the recording officer as either murder or manslaughter, but on further investigation may not actually qualify as such.
“The determination of whether an incident
qualifies as manslaughter rather than murder is conclusively made at the
prosecution stage,” NCRC said.
The agency said from the annual police
statistics, there was no indication of a surge in the killings in 2024. It added the current system of official data
recording, reporting and case management makes it difficult to establish the
actual facts and trends.
“For one, the summary annual statistics the NPS provides have no details of the incidents. Comprehensive data is the starting point for effective interventions to address the problem of homicides in Kenya. Currently, police and policy actors do not have an accurate picture of strategic interventions beyond specific incidents. There is also a challenge with the classification. It is not possible, for example, to establish whether an incident is manslaughter or not until it reaches the prosecution stage, and yet that category is included in the annual statistics.”
