Reform before we catch you, CS Kindiki warns city miscreants
The CS spoke on Monday in Nairobi CBD after a brief walk-through with other security chiefs.
The Interior Cabinet Secretary Professor Kithure Kindiki has sent a warning to criminals in Nairobi and across the country who are still terrorising Kenyans.
Prof Kindiki said that the government would not negotiate with the criminals and that the only option for them was to reform before security teams catch up with them.
“If you think that you have enough weapons, you have enough tactics to counter the government, I want to assure you that you have dialled the wrong number. We will be looking for you in your hideouts, we will not even wait for you to attack people. We will pre-empt attacks,” the CS said.
He spoke on Monday after assessing the security situation within the Nairobi CBD in a brief walk-through with other security chiefs.
Prof Kindiki also said cases of insecurity and mugging in Nairobi have gone down in the last week.
His assessment of the city comes after weeks of complaints from the residents and traders regarding deteriorating insecurity, and reports of deaths and injuries to the victims.
The CS said that the situation has been contained by a move by the government to deploy both uniformed and ununiformed police officers in various parts of Nairobi and the entire country.
“The report we have so far is that for the past week, normalcy has returned. We have not heard reported crimes, especially around muggings and people being attacked with firearms and knives,” Prof Kindiki said.
The CS said that as he was engaging with traders and Kenyans in the CBD, he got a good report from them as they said that there has been calm since the government declared war against the criminals.
“I want to firmly and unequivocally confirm and warn that crime does not pay, and that is why the government is doing whatever it takes to ensure that the citizens are protected from criminals,” he said.
He added that police patrolling the streets during daytime and night would remain, even after Christmas.
Still pursuing crime
“We are not leaving anytime soon. We will maintain a presence in our streets throughout so that people can do business. We cannot surrender this city or this country to criminals. The government will not allow criminals to run roughshod on citizens and I’m asking all those who are still not converted, those who are still pursuing crime, they must stop immediately because we are coming to you wherever you are and this operation is not ending anytime soon,” the minister added.
At the same time, the CS urged security officers to be humane to the members of the public who have been volunteering information about the criminals.
“The only area that we are not going to discuss is the criminals. Gangs and criminals we are not going to discuss with them, we have no conversations with them, we will just do what the law requires us to do and we will put them where the law says criminals must be,” he said.
Among the areas visited by the CS includes the Afya Center, Marikiti Market, the Old Kenya Bus station, and Muthurwa Market.
In his engagement, the CS assured the businessmen that the government would protect them from criminals so that they can do their business in a safe environment.
He also said that the government’s efforts were bearing fruits in other parts of the country including the northern parts of the country, where cases of cattle rustling have been reported for a long.
The ministry said that such assessments will be happening in other parts of the country.
The CS was accompanied by the top security officers in Nairobi County, including the new Nairobi police Chief Mr Adamson Bungei.
Also, the CS attributed the normalcy to the changes that were carried out by the National Police Service.
