• Over 1 million small firearms and rifles are in the hands of criminals, says ex-DCI boss
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The National Police Service should equip officers to tackle criminals who sometimes have superior weapons, former DCI director Francis Sang has said.
Sang, who chairs the National Association of Retired Police Officers, said, “Some of the equipment the officers have cannot compare to those of criminals.”
He said the government should give special consideration to security agencies operating in hotspots, like on Kenyan borders.
“Some of our officers are at times overrun by militia groups like al Shabaab and their equipment stolen. Some camps in such areas should be upgraded to police stations,” Sang said.
He spoke when the association presented its proposals to the Steering Committee on the Implementation of the Building Bridges to a United Kenya Taskforce earlier this month.
Sang said over 1 million small firearms and rifles are in the hands of criminals across the country. “Movements of small arms from Somalia to Nairobi at times result from corrupt police officers,” Sang said.
Speaking to the Star in his office, Nairobi regional police commander Philip Ndolo urged the public to support the fight against crime not only in the city but the country at large.
He said the war against illicit firearms, drugs and brews cannot be achieved without the public’s contribution.
“The war against criminals and their illicit businesses, which include peddling of illicit firearms, brews and drugs, cannot be achieved without the public engagement through Nyumba Kumi and Community Policing initiatives,” Ndolo said.
“People involved in such initiatives are the ones who gave the information leading to the recoveries of stolen items, illicit brew and drugs and arrests of several suspects.”
WAR ON DRUGS
Ndolo said the police have stepped up the war on illicit drugs. “There have been speculations that most bhang which finds its ways to Nairobi come from Western Kenya. The situation has changed since, according to our investigations, some of the bhang we recently netted came from Mandera,” he said.
The police boss said substantial amounts of bhang find their way to Nairobi from Tanzania, among other neighbouring countries. Most of the illicit consignments are transported by road.
“We are fighting drugs, drug abuse, illicit brews and gambling machines. When our officers go out, they always focus on these,” he said.
“Every other day, we do these operations as a routine. We have successful crackdowns, going by the figures of netted drugs, illicit brew, gambling machines and arrested suspects.”
Other sources who spoke to the Star in confidence said there are deep-rooted cartels involving high-profile personalities, government officials, politicians and business tycoons involved in the illicit drug trade in Nairobi and its environs.
The sources said street urchins and prostitutes are among those used by the cartels to distribute the consignments in Nairobi.
“These drugs are brought into the city at around 1am. They are dropped in specific points where peddlers, including street urchins and prostitutes, get them for distribution, which they conduct until morning hours,” a source told the Star.
The cartels are said to be collecting returns at around 9pm from the dropping points after the sales are made by their agents the whole day. Those involved in distributing and peddling the drugs are paid on commission.
A senior police officer said there is a connection between drug and substance abuse and crime in the city and its environs.
The officer said some of the crime reported in Nairobi is committed by intoxicated suspects. He said there is high use of bhang among those involved in carrying luggage and touts in stages like Machakos Bus Stop.