Grim picture of crime record

What you need to know:

  • According to the latest issue of Kenya’s Economic Survey, only 264 murders were successfully prosecuted last year, out of the 1,709 cases filed in court.
  • In the past, police have been accused of conducting shoddy investigations, ending up with evidence that can hardly stand judicial scrutiny.

The latest police figures on homicide show that there were 2,784 cases last year.

Murder topped the list with 1,721 incidents, followed by infanticide (60) and manslaughter (53).

However, this was a decline from the 3,124 homicides reported to police in 2012 — a 10.9 per cent drop.

The official statistics present a sad reality because a huge number of the murder cases filed in court never resulted in convictions, suggesting that the offenders often walked scot free.

According to the latest issue of Kenya’s Economic Survey, only 264 murders were successfully prosecuted last year, out of the 1,709 cases filed in court.

This was a big improvement, as only 66 convictions were attained in 2012 out of the 1,347 cases taken to court.

The cases were handled in the High Court, which has the jurisdiction over murder trials. The Directorate of Public Prosecutions headed by Mr Keriako Tobiko takes charge of murder trials.

The justice system further relies on the police — whose semi-autonomous arm, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations — looks into all serious crime cases.

In the past, police have been accused of conducting shoddy investigations, ending up with evidence that can hardly stand judicial scrutiny.

The report also shows that men are most notorious when it comes to committing serious offences.

NUMBER OF PRISONERS

While police held 1,507 men for murder in 2013, only 214 suspects were women.

However, the details point to an increase in convictions in other offences since the number of prisoners has been on the rise.

The number of prisoners rose from 204,551 in 2012 to 227,918 last year. Most of the convicts fall under the 26 – 50 age bracket — about 40.9 per cent of the total number.

The report further shows Nairobi is the crime capital, with a higher incidence than the other counties.

Some 8,207 incidents were reported in Nairobi alone, while the other 46 counties collectively accounted for 63,311 case.