...
written by aeichener , February 06, 2007

Too few legal guns, too few people able and willing to defend themselves.

...
written by Amir Ibrahim , February 06, 2007

Don't be silly. The problem is that there are too many guns, licensed or unlicensed! That and the fact that there are close to 3 million jobless people living in a rich city is a ticking time-bomb!!

Rio, anyone?

smoke the Alex
written by Antiguan , February 06, 2007

nonsense!! Do you know any place on the planet whose low crime rates can be attributed to the prevalence of guns?

...
written by aeichener , February 06, 2007

Guns don't kill people, people do. In fact, far more humans are hacked to death by pangas or are being burnt in Kenya, than are being shot. We need more guns in normal citizens' hands, and we'll have less victims.

Alexander

re: smoke the Alex
written by emmo opoti , February 06, 2007

nonsense!! Do you know any place on the planet whose low crime rates can be attributed to the prevalence of guns?

Perhaps he is a lobbyist for some nefarious gun company, armed with discounts no doubt.

The truth is Nairobi is dangerous because it has many poor people, not because it has few guns. Where you have many gun owners, like in Atlanta for example, but still have poor people without a hope, the poor simply get armed!!

Alex, so you are claiming that most crime in Kenya is against the upper classes? Or do you expect a teacher to be able to afford a gun? And if a teacher can afford a gun, why can't a gangster?

Violent crimes in Nairobi
written by Nekessa , February 06, 2007

Its simple really-- neighborhood inequality, inefficiencies leading to spatial interdependence( a murderer gets away with it, others see it, and move on). More when I have time... .

Violent crimes in Nairobi
written by kenyaonly , February 06, 2007

I agree with you Nekesa, its all about inequality brought out by corruption. When it becomes hard for them to do white collar crimes they resort to the streets and demand whatever they can get for they have to support their habits. thats why i disagree that the poor people are the ones who are doing all the nasty things. Its the middle class, they are the ones who know people's who are in the underground doing this so....jihadhari jirani yako

...
written by Masaa , February 07, 2007

Crime is so high just because of the financial or economic inequality that we have in Nairobi plus the inability of the police to crack down hard especially so without falsely and inappropriately harassing the peace loving citizen. The police then end up being an enemy to both the peace loving guy and the criminal and more so the peace loving guy coz some police are just as criminal.It is a vicious cycle really......and the buck stops with the cops.
Rounding up anyone walking at night in nai to ask for kitambulisho isn't going to stop it,they just create more enemies in the process.They can get all the tips from the citizens if they could only win back their trust (that is if they ever had it) .
Intelligence is the way to go but then again maybe the finances just aint there.
My peni mbili

Violence
written by AmarV , February 07, 2007

It is not surprising in a city with such extreme economic and social inequality and where the lack of hope is manifest that people turn to crime: Combine this with an excess and accessible supply of arms and ammunition and it is not surpising that most criminals are armed.
The root causes and facilitators of crime are prevalent in Kenyan society, that is a given; what I do wonder about is why armed robbery in Kenya so often turns violent. Car-jackings, home-invasions and the like are common in many countries but it seems in Kenya there is a greater propensity on the part of the criminals towards causing actual (and often fatal) bodily harm. Any thoughts?

Somali and Corruption
written by pndiangui , February 07, 2007

The 13 year civil war that left Somali a free for all state , the corruption with its inequalities run to the core of the current situation.

Amar V
written by Nekessa , February 07, 2007

on y there is violence-- it is exactly for the reasons that u state.hundreds of people are from rural Kenya to Nairobi, where they find that it is no really the land of milk and honey, and they have nothing!! leading to utter frustration and then hopelessness.... s'thing then snaps!!!

@kenyaonly, I am afraid, but I dont think its the middle class. although growing, kenya's middle class is still very small, and has a lot to lose.. it is the very poor, those with nothing to lose, those who as they walk the streets of Nairobi see a life that is unreachable to them.. they are the ones who turn violent!

...
written by T , February 07, 2007

Gun crime is not only perpetrated by poor people. Some of us already knw that more & more middle class & rich pipo are resorting to hiring hitmen to "take care" of business or perhaps a lose end. Soon enough, everyone will be up in arms to "take care" of bizness. (Nothing personal, just bizness). Kenyans are losing patience fast & if the problem persists... we all know the outcome... can you picture urself as a refugee...?

Ogres at loose?
written by aeichener , February 07, 2007

I think we could and should diferentiate between the reasons for crime "as such" (there we have seen numerous convincing explanations now), and between the reasons or rather total unreasonability of the apparent immense and senseless brutalization of crimes. The only one who excuses the latter and will always pounce on the victim that defends herself or himself, to the detriment of the poor pitiful criminal, is Emmo.

But the rest of the world looks in shock and awe at the increasingly brutal rapes and gratuitous killings without any even subjective "need". Why murder a person who has already submitted and complied; why shoot an old invalid who has immediately surrendered and just was not "quick" enough to get out of his 4WD because he had to get his crutches first? Has a virus transformed the former burglars and carjackers into monsters?

Alexander

More than just poverty
written by Newafroguy , February 07, 2007

The way I see it, the inequality/economic argument is tired and needs retired. Statisticaly, criminals with a purely economic motive have rarely been brutal to their victims unless their own lives were in danger. What we are seeing now is crime with a tint of sadistic adventurism. These young men, (and perhaps women-am not sure) are driven by somthing else. Anyone read carefully about exactly what they did in Kiserian just the other day?

...
written by aeichener , February 07, 2007

Yes, new afro guy. I fully agree with you!

And yes, I have read this sad story carefully (as related by Cyrus Ombati). Emmo should also do it.

Alexander

...
written by emmo opoti , February 07, 2007

Don't be silly Alex.
By your incredible stretching of the imagination, we would expect that these Kenyans now armed keep their guns away until the crims resort to brutal tactics.

So spare the gentle robber and shoot the brutal one? How very nice. The only example we have anywhere of a Third World Country that has a gun culture for defense purposes is the USA, with very obvious consequences. Show us any other anywhere else. Will you discriminate in the sale of the weapons on the basis of wealth, so that only those not poor enough to turn their guns into tools of trade can acquire them?

How do you suggest that the guns be traced or managed? Our experience sadly, even with those legally bearing arms, is that the weapons, in the hands of reservists, policemen and the army are more often that not instruments of arbitrary power, not protection or law enforcement.

emmo

...
written by aeichener , February 07, 2007

I did not feel afraid, personally, when in Nairobi, Nakuru, Embu, or shags. Least of all in shags, of course. In fact, the central business district of Nairobi is pretty safe, even late at night, all the fearful wazungu ho-hum and media hype notwithstanding, as my kind hosts observed dryly.

Where we lived, the place was also pretty safe and calm (Imara Daima, Face B; Face A is even nicer). I did not feel unsafe strolling through Mukuru kwa Njenga either, but obviously that was during the day and on the main footpaths, not in its sewers. For those who have been longer away from Nairobi, MkN is a place where a prostitute presently takes 50 KSh, and 20 KSh as students' discount price (yes, indeed !!). So much for its income level.

Did I ever feel that a handgun was urgently needed for me? No; I go by matatu, not by Toyota Prado 4WD, and there are no goons hovering at our estate gates, only poor ladies from the neighbouring slum sitting and waiting for hours in hope of a day's eventual casual labour. Nevertheless, the next time I will likely have a temporary permit, and I will pack when I feel it is warranted.

Alexander

unlicense
written by eddie , February 07, 2007

The governement of Kenya has to act in one way or another because there is war within Kenya itself..If guns are being licensed, then it must stop immediately.Its a sad situation to fear coming to Nairobi yet its such a must go tourist destination..

enter the new world!
written by Kamale , February 07, 2007

Sometime last year when I was on assignment in South Africa, I got speaking with one of my hosts about the crime in J'burg in particular and SA in general. He thought their criminals were very vicious as they would shoot you just to steal your wallet and mobile phone. Then I gloated that in our case they will just show you the gun, and relieve you of your wallet and mobile phone!

Then I thought our own thieves were cultured. So where did we lose the plot and went the southern africa way?

Globalisation as a new excuse?

...
written by a guest , February 07, 2007

I think another factor, one that is hardly ever mentioned is the fact that the Kenya Police Service is headed by a man who is not a policeman. Apart from the obvious resentment this has engendered -most famously in his being kept in the dark about certain operations- it has also the effect of putting a man whose business is brute force in charge of a body whose primary duty ought to be detection and prevention rather than slaughter.

While it is obvious that the Minister in charge is sympathetic to the bludgeon first ask questions later approach, it has proved as one commentator above has put it, not to work at all, creating instead in the public a perception that the police are also criminal enemies.

Observer
written by Andrew , February 07, 2007

A mixture of frustration, psychopathy, and idleness among the perpetrators and a lack of urgency and responsibility from those with the power and authority to do something about it.

The Wild East
written by AmarV , February 08, 2007

I actually know several people who do carry licensed firearms in Nairobi. However, while I can, to a certain extent, understand their motivation I worry that we are breeding a 'wild west' mentality where the rule of law is subjugated by the way of the gun.
The fact that an individual has the financial standing to afford a firearm and/or having the political connections to actually be granted a license does not guarantee their ability to use that same weapon responsibly. The sad and tragic events that occured at the Delamare farm are only one instance of how gun ownership can go so very wrong.
The fact of the matter is that the law and law enforcement are poorly equipped to manage a society where the populace is armed; ignoring this and arming the populace simply introduces a vigilante system - might this be effective in protecting the priviledged few? Yes. Is it the desirable option? No. What is needed is a massive overhaul of the law enforcement system and I would argue that this needs to start by addressing the issue low (and sometimes no) pay amongst the rank and file cops whom we expect to protect us while putting their lives on the line with inferior equipment.
I'm not naive enough to think this process will happen over night, but surely this is the road we should be heading down instead of advocating less stringent gun-control laws and an 'every man for himself' solution to the problem?

Guns
written by chameleon , February 08, 2007

Why cant the goverment allow private security companies to carry firearms. This will free the police to pursue dangerous criminals.

I also think that if you own a business even a simple kiosk you should be able to own a gun.

guns?
written by a guest , February 08, 2007

If gun ownership is so widespread, what will stop the use of those guns in crime? Look at the USA, the more guns there are about, the worse it gets!!

The answer is social equality!

...
written by emmo opoti , February 08, 2007

I don't think that there is much even the most competent Police Commissioner can do until the issue of wealth inequalities is addressed. While the Emmos and Kamales celebrate making a killing on the NSE or in trade, the bulk of our people are truly, desperately poor and angry. Worse they feel as though no one cares about them, the thuggery that exists in political circles reinforces the idea that the only way to make it in Kenya is through robbing someone weaker than yourself, and so the circle spins on and on.

Alex,
Don't you think your gun is perilously close to your foot, which is in your mouth, which is in your face, you know, you get the picture, no?

re: Guns
written by aeichener , February 08, 2007

Why cant the goverment allow private security companies to carry firearms. This will free the police to pursue dangerous criminals.

I also think that if you own a business even a simple kiosk you should be able to own a gun.

Both very good points, thank you for furthering the discussion.

1.
a) Indeed, in Uganda e.g. responsible and properly-trained private security firms may carry firearms, and this has lead to an distinct improvement of the security situation.
With the present atrocious, squalorous and downright inhumane living conditions of our police and their families, they can be definitely *less* trusted with a gun (especially with their G 3 infantry rifles in 7,62x51mm, so unsuitable for police use) than a private security specialist. This is proven time and again by the frequent and recurrent cases of firearms abuse by police (from shooting spouses, mistresses, relatives and the own boss, down to regularly renting out guns from the armory to criminals), and by the contrasting extremely low number of firearms abuses by private licensees.

b) But what is necessary is a thorough vetting and training, and a capability exam (safe handling, regular shooting, knowledge of penal and self-defence laws). Presently, out watchmen are among the lowest-paid and least-trained professions in Kenya. I trust the watchies in our estate (nice people), but I certainly wouldn't want *them* to run around with a gun. On the other hand, it is absolutely un-understandable and intolerable that almost all private and commercial money transport are nowadays accompanied by idling AP (who better should spend their time fighting crime), instead of private guards whose job this is really. Same is true for banks. And what business does an administrative policeman toting a rifle have to do in the bookshop (not in the printing rooms, not in the secret storage vault, but in the minuscule closet with two counters called "public bookshop" of the government printer in Nairobi? Send the young man on the street, and let him do a much-needed job there!

2.

I also think that if you own a business even a simple kiosk you should be able to own a gun.

Indeed. As of presently, firearms ownership in Kenya is a rather strict and clearcut class privilege of some among the rich and the upper middle class, many of which however hardly know how to operate these tools, and who would not be able to hit a barn when standing inside it. Wanjiku may be much more at risk in her little kiosk in Eastlands (risk of robbery, risk of rape, risk of wanton murder following either). But that is how the colonial firearms act of 1954 was designed: guns at liberty with the whites and with a few "trustworthy" Asians, but not with natives. It is high time that this law be democratized and that it offer self-protection to those who need it, not to those who think that a handgun is a snobbish mark of importance and class status (feh!).

Owning and carrying a gun is not a privilege; it is a right and - most of all - a responsibility.

Alexander

...
written by aeichener , February 08, 2007

Yes, Emmo. Having a gun and using it is no solution to the general crime problem, which is after all economical, political and social. But it is a good and necessary solution for the individual potential *victims* of crime.

If Wanjiku has a cheap revolver under her kiosk counter, or tucked in her waistband when she walks home at night with her few earnings, that won't solve the problem of unemployment, social destruction, anomy, wealth gap. But it can solve the problem of *her* being robbed, of *her* being raped, of *her* being AIDS-infected, of *her* being tortured, mutilated and murdered.

I know you don't care for her. You will shrug your shoulders if one is raped, disabled for life, killed, and will only dryly state "too bad, see how urgently change in Kenya is needed?". But on the contrary, you will clamour to high heavens if a victim were able to defend herself or himself, to fend off an attack, actually wounding or even killing the attacker. If possible, you would have that obnoxious insolent non-victim drawn and quartered, but instead, you'll settle for at least burning her on the stake.

Me, I don't.
For contrary to you, I am with the victims of crime, not with the perpetrators. With the raped, not with the rapist. With the needlessly shot driver, not with the carjacker. That makes the difference in our positions.

Alexander

re: Somali and Corruption
written by a guest , February 08, 2007

The 13 year civil war that left Somali a free for all state , the corruption with its inequalities run to the core of the current situation.

So does that mean that the Somalis are to blame for what we are doing to each other? :?:

aeichener
written by Chameleon , February 08, 2007

I remember when Kibaki became the president there was an idea floating around to arm private security guards but just like most good ideas in Kenya i dont know what happened to that plan.

emmo opoti
written by Chameleon , February 08, 2007

I disagree with your point that Nairobi is dangerous because there are alot of poor people.

There are alot of countries in the world that are poorer than Kenya but you dont see the kind of crime we have in Kenya.

Broken window theory
written by Chameleon , February 08, 2007

Some of you are aware of the "broken window theory" which was used by former mayor Giuliani to deal with crime in New York.

The theory is that if you want to prevent major crimes like murder and rape you must seriously invest in dealing with petty crime like tagging, pickpockets and public drunkenness.

The idea is that this petty criminals are the ones who end up graduating to serious criminals which is true. Therefore ask yourself why the Kenyan government always sets free thousands of petty criminals each year because of congestion when everyone knows that the most nuisance criminals are the petty ones that snatch hand bags, break into houses and beat up people.

Wouldnt it be better and cheaper to build bigger prisons and keep this people there.

its not the poverty
written by Nekessa , February 08, 2007

(to Chameleon) its the disparity... UN Press release on global economic disparity Unfortunately, Kenya has one of the largest economic disparities in the world, with 10% of Kenya's population controlling almost half the economy, and more than half of Kenya's population living on less than ksh100/day, then there rises frustration and anger. Imagine living in Kibera, Africa's largest slum, and one of the world's largest, and watching your neighbors across the street living in the isolate affluence that they do. Therein lies the problem with Kenya!

also on jailing petty thieves-- hardly solves the problem of crime (maybe some. )Case in point-- African American men, it hasn't solved that problem!!

On another note-- The US government has issued yet another Travel Advisory Ban on Kenya.

New York New York
written by a guest , February 08, 2007

I concur with Nekessa, it is more about disparities and also about hope, social structure and status. Cuba has many poor people and a low crime rate because they do not necessarily feel desperate and abandoned like Kenyans do.

More I think than the poverty is that for many young Kenyans, there's just no other way but crime. Obviously we here are from homes where going to Univeristy or High School even is a given, so the empathy is hard to force. However the bulk of our people simply have no such illusions about life.

The traditional bond with the land is long broken and there's no way out but to crowd the cities, where previous inhabitants set a great example.

The best examples are other countries with large disparities, and the model holds true. Try Brazil ( especially Rio), South Africa, the USA and of course Kenya.

broken windows
written by Tim Norwood , February 08, 2007

This is more than just about arresting panhandlers, it is about creating order and safe neighbourhoods. This website is a perfect example, I just saw the other day some posts being yanked off for bad behaviour ( true a rule-book would help), but the general ambience about the place tells you that you cannot behave here like you would on your average blog or forum, hence the site remains a good place to be as delinquents feel the social pressure to conform.

So it is not locking up petty criminals but cracking down on petty crime, setting a high lowest denominator. In The Trouble with Nigeria, Chinua Achebe speaks of the inverse of this order as the phenomenon of a sane person caught up in a mad house. He is compelled to comply with the social norms there and act mad himself. Similarly, in a community of robbers like Kenya ( think of our Presidents' families as the top three landowners) what happens is that the honest begin to look foolish and weak, soon enough everyone has joined in and its a free-for-all, like a madhouse!

re: its not the poverty
written by aeichener , February 08, 2007

On another note-- The US government has issued yet another Travel Advisory Ban on Kenya.

Here is the official link:
http://travel.state.gov/travel...w_923.html

Re: Its not the poverty
written by kenyaonly , February 09, 2007

Have you heard the rumors that all the violence in Nairobi is politically motivated and thats why the thugs are going for the guns, after reading about the policeman being shot at a chiefs camp i dont know what to believe

on security
written by anonymous , February 09, 2007

im not one to discuss security in academic terms or link it with social equity. when my life is threatened i want solution right
away.

1.having said that first we should recognize the right to bear arms especially for self defense we need to have a system to allow honest citizens to acquire and learn how to use firearms.

2. we need a larger and educated police
force NY has about 37000 police officers
for a population of 8 million - which is almost the same number as the whole of kenya 32million
we need a large police force and a larger police reserve - thereby involving more people in law enforcement
in the community.

3. lack of accountability our system does not have a way of direct accountability. compared to the US where a sheriff and DA are elected directly and are responsible for law enforcement our is a system of apointees apointed by appointees. we need to have local and elected police oversight boards that have oversight of law enforcement in loacl areas.

4. tackle youth unemployment. this probably is the key have programs expand the NYS or have hybrid NYS - something to keep youth esp young men busy

5. law enforcement needs to evolve into the 90's - its i read the startegic plan online somewhere - it was depressing

Death penalty
written by Chameleon , February 09, 2007

p/s

I hope the death penalty wont be removed from the books. We need it and i hope it was enforced more often.

Not just poverty...
written by aeichener , February 10, 2007

Let me challenge some of the views expressed here with a South African parallel:

"Every day, more than 300 murders and violent attacks take place in South Africa. Together with Iraq and Colombia, it is one of the three most dangerous countries on earth.

But there are two important points to make.

First, this is not a question of black versus white. Far more black people than white people are affected by crime, though the white population is certainly suffering heavily.

Secondly, South Africa is hugely successful, with eight years of uninterrupted economic growth. Every opinion poll shows that a large majority of people, black and white, is highly optimistic about the country's future."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6347717.stm

...
written by emmo opoti , February 10, 2007

Nonsense Alex and you know it!

South Africa, Brazil and the USA may have stellar growth rates, but they are also at the vanguard of another list, a nasty one.

They are homes to the largest disparities between rich and poor. Countless reports litter the internet on how especially bad things are for the impoverished in South Africa, worse perhaps than under apartheid. It is the disconnect between where you could be and where you actually are.

...
written by pndiangui , February 11, 2007

"There has been a breakdown of societal values in South Africa," Professor Barney Pityana, the head of one of South Africa's largest universities, UNISA says.

Could that be an additional reason in our country? Yes. Maybe we should go an extra mile and ask 'why the breakdown in values in Kenya?"

You will see part of the answers will be:

1. Inequality, what Emmo cites as the discrepancy between where one feels one could (or should) be, and where one sees oneself.

2. That not being enough, we see the youth learning from their leaders; the only difference of their 'white collar robbery' from the gun-toting youths, being their tools of trade. One group uses the gun while the other uses their leadership positions to carry out the same job: robbing Kenyans. Probably the white collar robbery has even more devastating effects: such as children dying from lack of pharmaceutics and fatal traffic accidents due to the poor state of our roads, neglected or decaying because of bogus contracts. More than once there is 'knowledge transfer' leading to a change in societal norms. Why would for example Kenyans glorify the white collar robber and demonise the gun-toting robber?

3. The availability of those tools of trade. Guns as robbery aiding tools can be traced to the neighbouring countries at war and also to the Kenyan security forces themselves.

As Alex expounds on this, well among the poor only those willing to do the robbery job have access to guns, while the rest with access to arms are the privileged. (Alex your idea of arming the masses is thought provoking and radical and might need more thinking through. I however agree that security firms need to be armed but with a pinch of salt when again we look at what Emmo brings forth, that the arms currently being held by our armed forces and police are sometimes used in these robbery acts, so maybe more arms to security firms might not work.

It's however possible to synergize these ideas by first knowing what motivates armed police into renting their arms to be used in acts they themselves are supposed to fight. Again social values breakdown plays a role here, fuelled maybe by the inequality of income: something echoed by Honey and Nekessa above.)

Positions of leadership as robbery tools - well these could be imputed to the same ignorant or non-informed Kenyan masses electing people of questionable character into office, who then go forward in appointing 'birds of the same feather'.

Editorially overworked, clarified and smoothed. Substantial content unaltered. Alexander

Going in circles.
written by Honey , February 11, 2007

'It is poverty, no, it is disparity, no, it can not be poverty for poverty is a tired excuse.'

Yeah, poverty maybe a 'tired' line, but it has never the precincts of Kenya!

The lack of jobs(too many graduates), the underemployed, the overtaxed, the high cost of living na kadhalika.

Has any of us considered the underpayed police force may well play a role in the crime wave? Or is it the snake rattlers.

@Alex
I lived at Imara and rode to the slums, occasionally. For the 5 years I worked for a cigarrete maker, I observed that violence is not prevalent in those MKN slums. Drinking chang'aa was the norm. Men in tatters and zonked all day.
However, places like Zimmerman were danger-zones, day or night. Zimmerman harbored robbers, vicious ones in mid 90's. Ending a function at Safaripark or Sportsview anytime after 8:OO translated into 'spend the night wherever one is; or hire a bodyguard, and good Lord help you'

Pndiangui
written by Honey , February 11, 2007

Your post has tried to fence around the real issue-Poverty.

I doubt that Kenyans are in a place where being trigger happy is a mere sport.

A non-functioning leadership and immense poverty. The gun-totters have nothing to loose-it is do or die.

Today\'s story-Where were Ali\
written by MainaT , February 12, 2007

Apart from the poverty and the rift-valley sized income gap, the cops as with vast areas of the civil service are not doing their job. How can thugs hold up traffic for 3 hours on a major road into Nai? Why do people have to paid more to do their jobs when they are so many who want a job?

...
written by StevO , February 12, 2007

iSn't it ridiculous that you can find club bouncers in other countries having better communication gear - walkie talkies and such - compared to our local police? Poor police equipment, poor police training, poor pay = crime going up

Lets think solutions
written by pndiangui , February 12, 2007

After s good criticism lets bring up solutions that we can ask major Ali to come here , have a look and even start some implementation;
The way I see them those solutions would be broken down into 3 parts running in parrallel to each other;
1. Short-term solutions (immediate impact though not strong nor strategic)
2. Mid-term solutions (take may be 3-5 years for impact to be felt which wood be a good impact and of srategic importance)
3. Long-term solutions (Take 5 years plus for impact to start being felt but it would be enormous and a lasting one)

Short-term
1.
Alex idea of arming security agents as I said has merit and needs to be looked at however with some good data at hand which will dispel the fears emmo has. That putting these arms in the hands of lowly paid staf , however well meaning they will use them for rent-seeking activities with the gangs. This research would bond well with long-term solutions by making us more aware about the motivation of police forces to lend their arms to gangs; By 'motivation' I would be looking at anwering questions such as the one poised above by mainaT; Is the recruitment of the forces itself flawed such that it ends up with men of unquestionable integrity? Do we need to overhaul the recruitment process of these security agents from just physical stamina into more behavioural interviews and detailed background character checks and tests?
So this one short-term solution might lead us into strategic insights that look into the long-term of reforming the basic law-enforcing agents access to firearms and their recruitment.

2.
In the short-term it might be worthwhile to bring in the 'un-utilized forces' on board beginning with the colonial GSU and AP. As one writer noted above, the AP's would be doing a better job combing up potential crime spot areas rather than escortig the money to banks if security agents were armed.

If we can outline what we think in the line of short, mid and long-term solutions we would be making this debate more proactive and solution driven.
Issues such as the government investing money to build Police houses are uncompetitive; What they would be looking instead as a mid to longterm solution is to start a transformational program that will allow the cops to live in the such estates without investing billions of money directly into it. For example why not invest in cheap housing estate built by a estate investors which cops can be given soft loans to buy? The government can offer incentives by paying the deposit requirements and provide lower intrest loans to the cops to own such apartments.
Three things would emerge from such a an undertaking;
1. Discplined cops because this would create a savings culture by default.
2. Great savings by the government of which this money would now be re-invested in smart and effective policing systems, from cctv, GPS, forensics etc.
3. More diligent and bright Kenyans would be attracted into joining the force.

Other long to Mid-term solutions include community policing, creating and independent Police Commission free of political interference, Reforming the collective services and the justice system.
I hope to hear more solutions from you on reforming Nairobi.

Hire out Kenyan youth
written by Honey , February 13, 2007

I suggest that Kenya hires out its youth to America, so they can be deployed to Iraq.
What do you say?

...
written by aeichener , February 13, 2007

Honey, it's already being done. A bad old tradition since the King's African Rifles and Kariokor. Blacks make good cannon fodder for white interests. Also see the article here on the website on the former USMC soldier now trying to run for a Kenyan parliamentary seat.

As to the perception (!) of growing insecurity in Nairobi, I would like to point to two articles by Rasna Warah in the Daily Nation:

http://nationmedia.com/dailyna...wsid=91064 on 5th Feb 2007

http://nationmedia.com/dailyna...wsid=91597 on 12th Feb 2007

This Kenyan photographer, journalist, ex-UN-employee of Indian ethnia writes very well and compelling; but she like many others falls prey to a common class prejudice, in a noteworthy display of slanted reality view. All what she observes about the loss of security feeling since her childhood is honest and true; but she does hardly realizes how much this might reflect a sheltered class outlook from Parklands. The wananchi in Nairobi - black wananchi I should specify, for there also have been poor and working-class Indians in Kenya - the wananchi suffered every bit as much under crime and insecurity 50 years ago.

Eastlands in the 1950s were a hotbed of brutal, unfettered, unsanctioned crime, and there was far less police presence and police action in the black living areas at that time than even today; but crime was mostly contained through segregation, and rarely "swept" over. The same phenomenon as in South Africa, by the way. Of course, Rasna Wara may never have noticed these conditions herself, and her youth in the 1970s indeed may have been more blissful than it could be today. But for a reality check, I suggest a look in David Anderson's "Histories of the Hanged", where he expounds in compelling detail on the crime situation in colonial Nairobi.

Alexander

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written by a guest , February 18, 2007

I agree with you I was recently in Kenya after not having been there for 6 years and I was appalled by the insecurity in Nairobi. Of course I am not comparing it to the US since I could be biased after having been away for so long. You are unsafe in your own vehicle, in a matatu or in a cab, so how does one move around? This is obviously a problem of heightened poverty and despair of the common man. Even cab drivers are afraid to fill up their cars with gas for fear of carjackers. I cannot say I have the answer, it's a tough call. There are many idle and desperate people in Nairobi right now who see no opportunities in the future. I think it's time we all pick our brains and try and figure out how we can really help our country; remember Kenya is already missing about 70% of its youth who could be contributing to the infrastructure, yet cannot because the old folk will not let go!

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written by aeichener , February 18, 2007

The problem is that there are too many guns, licensed or unlicensed!

t
written by T , February 18, 2007

The gun problem has existed for at least a decade. Granted the problem is growing & we all know that the bomb is indeed ticking. This, in my opinion, is Kenyan politics - I don't know how they hope to gain from a burnt down country. This as I see it, is an "on the ground course on - How to nurture a civil war 101". Be very scared pipo...

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written by Dan Kihote , February 21, 2007

This issue will rage on for a while yet.

There is definitely a problem here.

The runaway crime rate is nothing more than an expression of a runaway population explosion. When the population was x millions, there were y murderers. With a population of 2x millions we have an increase of 4y murderers. Simple.

I think Raila also has a good
written by pndiangui , February 22, 2007

Quoting Raila's take on the inscurity that is in Nairobi and the rest of the country. I couldnt find any other Kenyan politician who has put a well-rounded analysis of what has so far been the causitive nature of insecurity in Nairobi like raila in his interview on www.raila07.com as quoted below;
[b]You mentioned security as one of a potential investor’s concerns. According to a recent poll in Kenya, it also ranks very highly among concerns locally. How can insecurity be addressed?
Insecurity is not one single problem. It is a very broad subject and to my mind needs to be broken down into four sub-groups.
Firstly, we have the insecurity that is caused by poverty. This often leads to petty crime – and sometimes even organised crime – by those who can find no other way of earning a living.

This kind of insecurity cannot be dealt with by hiring more police officers or by the courts imposing heavier fines. It cannot be eradicated like that. Rather, the root cause of this crime must be addressed. There is at present no meaningful employment even for graduates and high school-leavers. There is nothing for them to do, particularly in the rural areas. Rural unemployed youth make for the towns and many eventually turn to crime in order to survive.
The only way of changing this situation is by improving the economy to create opportunities so that these young people are absorbed into the labour force. This is not happening at the moment. The remedy is not there.

The economy is not improving because of misguided priorities on the part of the government, which has not addressed that sector of the economy which can create opportunities on a large scale.

At the moment, the government has laid emphasis, like the west, on the service sector – mainly banking, insurance, the stock market, transport, tourism and communications. These sectors employ fewer people and also bring huge disparities in earnings, so that you find a bank clerk earns 10,000 shillings while the chief executive rakes in two million.

The government’s lack of interest in sectors of the economy that increase work opportunities has led it also to become complacent about the jua kali [informal sector] industry, presumably because this keeps some people employed and out of the crime figures.
The jua kali sector, in my view, has become the ‘default’ sector of the economy – and one that only serves to perpetuate poverty. It offers a hand-to-mouth existence from which there is no escape. The income earned is negligible and can never offer anyone a chance to invest or otherwise improve their circumstances.

And then the government wants to tax jua kali workers! I ask myself, what for? The government provides them with no services to warrant this taxation. Jua kali operators in makeshift places in Kibera, for example, have no water, electricity or security. They walk to work through mud and filth, and they must take everything they need with them.

On the way back home, having earned a few shillings for their sweat, they are robbed – because of the very same poverty that has driven them to this kind of work in the first place. It is a never-ending cycle of despair.

And woe betide anyone trying to make an honest living who goes to the police to complain about any theft they have suffered! The thief, if arrested, bribes the police and brings a counter complaint – so you end up with a situation where the original complainant, the victim, is now arrested and finds him or herself in the dock.

The police are basically nothing more than a source of irritation and harassment to jua kali workers. Police officers only go to the slums to extort money from the poor.

What can we say the government has done to deserve tax from jua kali workers?



The second problem is corruption in the police force, when the force itself becomes a source of crime.
Sometimes, police guns are loaned to criminals, who use them to rob others. You find police guns have been used in bank robberies. The police collude with the gangsters.

Police officers also condone and engage in crime by receiving bribes. In this respect, many of the ‘roadblocks’ set up by police officers are merely toll stations for the extortion of money from motorists.

Police officers also do this because they in turn are poorly paid and badly looked after. We need a major reform of the security forces, including improvements in officers’ working conditions. There is often no adequate housing for them, for example, so a police officer ends up living in the same kind of makeshift accommodation as those living in the slum he or she polices.

I am personally in favour of deploying police officers close to their homes, rather than posting them off to some place they have never heard of.
This ‘community bobby-on-the-beat’ idea is tried and tested elsewhere, and has worked very effectively in, for example, Britain, which, in the face of rising crime, has recently returned to the idea and is concentrating on employing community support officers locally.
When our police officers are posted out of their home areas, they end up in situations where they don’t know the local geography, language, customs, traditions, culture or history. It is like working in a foreign land. How can they be expected to police efficiently? People can take advantage of their ignorance of local conditions and they can be corrupted by the criminal – whereas a local man or woman would be governed by local social constraints and would not be so easily prey to the same temptations. Posting officers locally would also allow them to live at home, solving the perpetual problem of substandard accommodation.
The third problem we have is insecure borders. This needs a long-term solution and must be dealt with in the context of working to ensure security within neighbouring countries, through bilateral, regional and international intervention and co-operation. If the nations around us have no problems, there will be no spillover into Kenya.
At the moment, it is possible to go down to Eastleigh, in Nairobi, and buy an AK47 for shs.3,000, from someone who has fled over the border into Kenya, bringing the weapon he was using in his own troubled land.

But in this regard I must ask, what is our army for? Isn’t an army’s prime function to secure a nation’s borders? What is our army doing that is so important that it prevents personnel being deployed to the borders to maintain law and order?

The fourth, and a major, problem is insecurity instigated by the state.
We have in the past witnessed terrible massacres when the state has used its might to cause friction between people of neighbouring ethnic groups, leading to violence and killing on an unprecedented scale among people who formerly lived peaceably side by side. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced by such violence, and most of them have never been able to return home. They remain displaced up to this day – more than 20 years later, in many cases.
Recently, we witnessed the case of foreign mercenaries roaming our streets, carjacking motorists, extorting money, storming newsrooms, raiding media houses commando-style, invading our airports and attacking customs officials and smuggling suspicious wares – and yet, instead of being charged with their crimes, they were deported, and then it was decided to investigate them in their absence.

Governments resort to this kind of behaviour to disrupt and destabilise voting patterns, to raise money for electioneering and ultimately to keep themselves in power. And no one is willing to hand over power because of the ethnic favouritism that power is seen to bring.
That is why I have strongly advocated central funding of political parties, and why the political alliances I have made have a national face – as opposed, for instance, to the current government, which is filled with the president’s cronies.
Until we have an administration that breaks the cycle of ethnicity in public life, we shall never escape from this particular trap. I am one of very few MPs representing a constituency that is not my home area, and I believe the experience this has given me, and my absolute determination and genuine commitment to changing this ethnic pattern make me an ideal candidate to lead the country out of this never-ending downward spiral.

On paper Raila sounds great , but I am not sure how different he purpots to be differrent having;
1. Served in both Kibaki and Moi's regime cabinets
2. Having been an MP able to file bills in parlimanet and seek to marshall support for them to create an independent police force
3. Having supported political hooligans that ended with the attacking of such change agents as Ooki Ombaka, Orengo ot Timothy Njoya through Baghdad Boys and jeshi la mzee.

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written by Tim Norwood , February 22, 2007

Sounds good Raila, but the notion that someone will have come all the way to Nairobi with a gun from some troubled land, and then sell it off for Ksh 3000 is foolish. Very foolish.

Spot on otherwise.

the elephant has not left the
written by Dan Kihote , February 22, 2007

I have worked for many years in the service sector and I know about the problems that you have quoted from real first hand experience. Our leaders and social/economic planners make the mistake of ignoring population growth.

There are far fewer resources to be shared amongst a rapidly growing population which is demanding a better standard of life than that of previous generations.

The way to deal with a ticking time-bomb is certainly not to cover it with a tablecloth.

Wanjiku, get your gun...
written by aeichener , February 22, 2007

Here is a rather perceptive comment from another forum (RCBowen):

"One of RCB's esteemed elders advocated that very thing here 5 years ago and people thought he was inebriated after sipping a full gourd of potent Muratina. His words were clearly prophetic, he was ahead of his time. The recent murder of a prominent businessman man and his son is a classic example of a situation where firearms may have tipped the odds in the victims favor. The perpetrators chased the unarmed victims for miles before cornering them near a house where the duo abandoned their car and fled on foot. The murderers pursued them and shot them in cold-blood. Now, if the victims had guns the murderers would have had something to contend with..."

Source: http://kenya.rcbowen.com/talk/...hp?id=5689

Simple explanation
written by Jahsymon , February 23, 2007

One night in 1996 I was drinking in a certain pub in Dondora. There was some fracas and suddenly two gentlemen produced pistols ordered some people out and proceeded to drink with the pistols on the table. In hushed tone one of my friends who was reiding in the area told me that one of the gentlemen was a leader of one of the gangs there. Later in the night around 2.00am a group of people entered and handed the guy a lot of money. Two of them had guns or maybe toy guns.I later come to learn that my friend was also a member of the gang.He was gunned down by Flying squad in 2000.

Point of the story.THE LEADER OF THE GANG IS NOW AN ASSISTANT MINISTER.

Gangsters are not poor. Infact they are among the richest people in Kenya.It is only that police arrest or shoot the poor once. Do you think Matheri survived for so long because he was sharp. No, he was sharing the proceeds with tens of senior officers and other influencial people.

as long as the same people constinue in power the gangsters will thrive and more kenyans will die. Moi kibaki, raila ,Kalonzo are all thne same group.

Crime pays big time in KENYA .