Kinoti now draws dreaded squad closer in shuffle

The country’s top sleuth, George Kinoti, seems intent on giving his former colleagues at the defunct Kanga Squad the front row seats at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) as he moves to dismantle his predecessor Ndegwa Muhoro’s entrenched networks.

Since his appointment in January, Mr Kinoti has led an institution-wide purge of senior officers and replaced them mostly with former members of the one-time specialised unit whose mandate was to pursue and subdue hardened criminals.

In its heyday, Kanga Squad was blamed for numerous extra-judicial killings, including the daylight execution of two suspects in the middle of Lang’ata road on January 19, 2011.

MURDER PROBES

These former members of the Kanga Squad have formed Mr Kinoti’s inner circle as he reorganises the directorate. The Sunday Nation has learnt that Mr Kinoti has even invited them to his homecoming today, which will also be used to raise funds to support a local church at his rural home in Meru County.  These former Kanga Squad members have been involved in organising the event.

Mr Kinoti wants to bury the ghosts of his predecessor Mr Muhoro who, in his nearly eight years as DCI head, presided over numerous unresolved murder probes, including those of businessman Jacob Juma, former Kabete MP George Muchai and former IT manager at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chris Msando.

Prominent city lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi also accused Mr Muhoro of being used by a faction  to take over Tatu City land from New Zealand millionaire and investor Stephen Jennings.

Mr Abdullahi claimed Mr Muhoro was using the units under his command to intimidate and harass Mr Jennings and his associates.

Most of the casualties of the purge, the Sunday Nation has learnt, were close allies of Mr Muhoro.

NETWORKS

President Kenyatta had sent Mr Muhoro, Mr Joel Mboya Kitili and Mr Samuel Arachi – the latter two then Deputy Inspectors-General in charge of Kenya Police and Administration Police respectively – back to the Public service Commission (PSC) for  re-deployment. The Sunday Nation has, however, learnt that they have not been re-deployed to date as PSC asked them to proceed on leave since they had accumulated many leave days. It is reported that the National Intelligence Service (NIS) has been instrumental in helping Mr Kinoti identify most of those to be transferred or deployed.

Among the first casualties of Mr Kinoti’s disruption of his predecessor’s networks was the Flying Squad which has been re-organised and its former head, Said Kiprotich, transferred to Kilifi as the County Criminal Investigations Officer (CCIO).

Mr Kiprotich’s position has been taken by Mr Musa Yego who, on the night of the terror attack at Garissa University College, was the Divisional Criminal Investigations Officer (DCIO). Mr Yego was briefly suspended on a charge that he had failed to respond adequately to intelligence leading to the fateful incident.

ACCOUNTABLE

After reports emerged of the shake-up of the dreaded Flying Squad, Mr Kinoti said he was not disbanding the unit “but we will re-organise the teams to suit our security needs.”

The reorganisation of the Flying Squad also came with the centralisation of the command structure so that, unlike in the past when officers deployed to stations outside Nairobi were answerable to the divisional DCI chiefs, they are now accountable to the headquarters.

Also to go in the reorganisation is former head of Special Crime Prevention Unit (SCPU) Noah Katumo. Mr Katumo was transferred to Kisumu where he heads the divisional criminal investigations.

Former members of the Kanga Squad David Chebii and Arthur Omondi were moved from Ruiru to Parklands and the Land Fraud  Unit respectively.

COMPLEX

As Mr Kinoti rewards his former squad members, some have not been fortunate. For instance, former Central DCIO Seroney Kiberenge and his Kilimani counterpart Phyllis Kanina were recalled to DCI headquarters at Mazingira House on Kiambu Road but have not been reassigned any roles. Some within the directorate termed it being placed in a “cold room”. Kilimani is now under Fatuma Hadi.

Other units under Mr Kinoti’s command have also undergone personnel changes. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations is charged with investigating complex and often high-profile cases that require high-end expertise.

The Banking Fraud Investigations Unit (BFIU, Investigations Department, Flying Squad, Cyber Crime, Special Crime Prevention Unit, the Bomb Disposal Unit, Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (APTU) and Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU) are all under the DCI. In fact, sources indicate that the next high-ranking person to be removed from his current position could be Munga Nyale, who heads ATPU.

PERSONAL

Mr George Musamali, a commentator on security matters,  says the purge by the current head of DCI is welcome. “I think the restructuring is good because some former officers had commercialised the fight against crime, especially in Nairobi,” said Mr Musamali.

However, he wants improvement of officers’ welfare. But the victims of the purge say they have been unfairly targeted to settle personal scores with Mr Muhoro.