The decision by Interior CS Fred Matiang'i to reorganise security immediately after a recent spike in crime was observed in Kiambu county is timely.
This arises after a gang assumed to be members belonging to the outlawed Mungiki sect, murdered a Gatundu South citizen, wounded three people and escaped with telephones, cash and other valuables.
The insecurity has been on the increase. In another incident in Githaruru village, a gang broke into another house where they terrorised a family for more than five hours. They are believed to have prepared a meal, eaten it and made away with cash and other goods.
Not only in Kiambu county as early this month, but dailies also reported that at Gituto factory in Kirinyaga county, robbers raided and stole coffee worth Sh400,000. After an attack on two nightguards at 3am, the criminals plundered 1,000 kilograms of clean coffee.
Sometimes it takes a long time for the police to react and they can be faulted for that. For instance, in a story reported last year, a mini- supermarket in Gilgil, just a few metres from the police station took three robbers less than 10 minutes to rob.
Serious actions should be seen as this country has invested in security as seen in the budget statement presented to Parliament a few months ago.
I disagree with the CS that the increased incidence of thievery is not caused by unemployment.
The 2017 Chief Justice David Maraga audit report on the criminal justice systems of the country reveals that a large proportion of the poor are incarcerated as compared to the wealthy. Also, more than 75 per cent of inmates is between 18 to 35 years of age. This means that innocent, jobless, poor and hopeless persons make up the larger jail population.
Therefore, I would urge the CS and his team to restrict the police from doing shoddy investigations, misidentification, bribery and acting on political pressure. Instead, they should follow the moral ethics of their workplace and good conduct of police operations.
Nairobi
