Murder, rape cases rise as Kenya's crime rate down 8pc

Members of the public at the scene where four suspected robbers were shot dead by police officers from the Special Crime Prevention unit at Thome Estate along Thika Road Nairobi on December 17, 2013. Murder, robbery and rape cases and domestic cases reported this year have gone up compared to last year, even as overall crime rate went down by 8 per cent. BILLY MUTAI

What you need to know:

  • Overall crimes reported went down by eight per cent, with a total of 66,188 cases reported compared to last year's 72, 091.
  • Kericho recorded the highest number of crimes followed by Nyandarua while Kajiado recorded the lowest.
  • There was a decrease in the number of traffic accidents in the country, with 5611 cases so far recorded compared to last year's 6,354

Murder, robbery and rape cases reported this year have gone up compared to last year, even as overall crime rate went down by eight per cent.

Police statistics show there were 11 per cent more people murdered this year, with a total of 1,749 cases recorded.

Robberies were up 10 per cent to 2,490 cases while rape cases were 22 per cent higher than last year. There was also an increase in domestic violence cases.

Speaking during National Police Service launch of the Annual Crime Report on Friday, acting director of Police Operations Philip Ndolo said overall crimes went down by eight per cent, with a total of 66,188 cases reported compared to last year's 72, 091.

The crime report, which covers the period between January and November, shows Kericho county recorded the highest number of crimes followed by Nyandarua while Kajiado recorded the lowest.

According to the report, there was a decrease in the number of traffic accidents in the country, with 5611 cases so far recorded compared to last year's 6,354.

Economic crimes declined by 21 per cent while stealing went down 19 per cent

The report shows there were more violent attacks on police officers this year, with a total of 63 officers killed and 146 injured.

Cases reported at the Kenyan airports by the Kenya Airports Police Unit (KAPU) also went up.

REPEAT OFFENDERS

The Deputy Inspector General in charge of AP Samuel Arachi revealed that most crimes were committed by repeat offenders.

"We need to review the law about granting of court bonds. We also need to find out if our prisons are rehabilitating the inmates well enough before we release them," said Mr Arachi.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations deputy boss Gideon Kimilu said that most prisoners, especially on death row, were behind most cellular and computer based crimes.

"The challenge is that the main criminal is not usually at the scene of the crime. Even in cases where money is withdrawn from the ATM machines, the images are not very clear," said Mr Kimilu.