14,000 guns, 400,000 bullets recovered from wrong hands in 24 months in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya, June 8- Security agencies in Kenya have recovered 14,000 guns and 400,000 bullets from wrong hands within 24 months.

The revelation was made amidst a clarion call for more citizen participation in fighting white-collar crimes in Kenya.

This comes at a time police in the country are grappling with an influx of such crimes and at the backdrop of a series of sophisticated crimes uncovered by detectives, as the government banks on inter-agency collaboration to improve security.   

Over the months, police have recovered fake currency worth billions of shillings from criminals in a worrying trend that is expected to only get worse as Kenya nears an electioneering period.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiangi specifically pointed out at the crimes of money laundering and wash wash activities.

“All these people who are running wash wash activities and money laundering in estates, and the characters who are trying to abduct kids live in our midst. It is very helpful for the public to be conscious of the rising levels of crime,” he said.

He linked some of the crimes to contemptible lifestyle aspirations, which have encouraged some individuals to turn to dark deals and villainous get-rich-quick schemes.

“Because we’ve become intensely materialistic, people are running money laundering rackets that have been under cover for a very long time,” he said.

The Cabinet Secretary was speaking during the launch of the Excellence Charter developed by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) to drive fundamental reforms in public prosecution over the next three years (2020-2023).

-ODPP Charter; A game changer-

The aim of this Excellence Charter is to transform the ODPP into a prosecution service which is more responsive to the needs of Members of the Public.

He lauded the Charter as a greater commitment by the ODPP to advance inter-agency collaboration towards achieving excellence in complex litigation and emerging crimes.

“The launch of the Excellence Charter is a new ground that you have broken. You have immediately thrown a challenge to all of us. You are now blazing the trail, and we need to follow suit and develop a similar culture of excellence. Agreeing to develop an accountability framework is the first admission by the ODPP that they are ready and willing to serve in a modern way and in line with the demands of our time,” the Dr. Matiang’i said.

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He added that, “from the law enforcement part, we will do our part. We are trying to measure up to the expectations of fighting crime in the modern environment. We have already created a new cadre of police officers — all of them graduate trainees — who are currently undertaking a one-year training programme, and will graduate as cadet police officers drawn from various fields. As such, when we go into new ground of working on crime like cybersecurity, we have the capability to be of more value to the ODPP.”

On the issue of institutional independence, the CS said all other institutions in the criminal justice system will respect the lines that are drawn by the Constitution, but he prescribed the multi-agency framework of delivering in the security sector advocated for by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“Constructive cooperation is the way to go — it is not compromised. We do not interfere with each other: we respect the independent offices we have,” he said.

A comprehensive set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on investigation and prosecution of serious human rights violations committed by police officers was also launched during the event.

Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji and Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai attended the event.

“The Charter sets out and focuses on the organisation we want to be-a prosecution service that is responsive to the need of Kenyans. Our objective is to inject accountability, transparency, legitimacy, public confidence and quality control in our operations with overall aim of transforming the ODPP into a 21^st century prosecution service,” the DPP said.

“In implementing the Charter, we shall be shepherded by 6 strategic commitments; independence and integrity, lifelong learning, reshaping prosecutions, leadership, organizational effectiveness inter-agency networks.”

Also present during the launch was the Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi who termed the Charter as a game changer in the criminal justice sector.