Press Statement

February 13, 2015

Narobi, KENYA

ICPC calls for establishment of new capable, credible and effective national crime service
agency
In POST Kabete MP cold murder and British Court sentencing of corrupt companys directors
linked to Kenya public institutions corruption deals, with little progress in arresting culprits,
it is time for new national crime service agency
International Center for Policy and Conflict (ICPC) [1] observes that the crime landscape has
significantly changed globally. Crime is increasingly sophisticated and complex. However, the
security system in Kenya remains outdated and old modeled. One can only tackle crime
effectively with new tools, methods and agency that understands and responses to the shifting
nature of crime terrain.
The Member of National Assembly for Kabete Constituency in Kiambu County will be laid to rest
today. Criminals who are still at large cold murdered the legislator. The handling of the
investigations and information to public on progress of investigations has been ineffective.
If within the last 72 hours after occurrence of the senseless crime, the police have not provided
detailed preliminary investigations report to the public on the events and circumstances
surrounding the heinous murder, it exposes the unprofessionalism, incompetence and
incapability of the crime investigation agency of the national police service.
Further, a British Court has sentenced British nationals who are directors of printing company
for committing economic crime of bribing Kenyan officials of two public institutions namely
Electoral and Boundaries Commission and Kenya National Examination Council. There is no
criminal action has been taken against Kenyan culprits. The agencies responsible have only
been promising of investigations.
For decades, police have been accused of conducting inconclusive shoddy investigations that
see criminals walk scot-free while police engage in extra judicial killings to cover their
ineffective crime investigations. The country has to enforce and restore the independence of
the police as provided in the constitution to allow them to use their discretion and professional

judgment in tackling crime. The country is at the best served by a police service run by
professionals rather than politicians.
Government interference in police has changed the focus of the police. They have become
responsive to targets and bureaucracy rather than to people. They have become disconnected
from the public they serve. Police is subject to bureaucratic accountability instead of
democratic accountability.
While the Government has interfered too much in law enforcement and policing, it has not paid
nearly enough attention to serious and organised crime that can be addressed effectively only
by a well co-ordinated and organized professional capable, credible and effective crime
agency that brings together policing and enforcement services.
Currently there are too many agencies working disjointedly on border controls and security
with no strategy, streamlined process, or clear accountability about how goods and people
move through checks and controls. There has been insufficient coordination of policing serious
and organised crime from local to regional to national level. There is catastrophic failure to get
grips with the cause of the crime.
In this regard, International Center for Policy and Conflict recommends for the repeal Part V
THE DIRECTORATE OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS- of National Police Service Act 2011 pave way
for creation of transformed, restructured and resourced new national crime tackling agency.
It is time to close down the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). It has to be fresh start.
The old modeled and outdated CID will need to be replaced with complete new crime tackling
agency armed with the right modern days tools, skills, capabilities and methods of addressing
new sophisticated security and crime challenges.
The new crime agency will be integral part of the policing and law enforcement mandate of the
national police service but with clear independence and mandate of professional crime
investigation.
Kenya cannot afford to be without a modern independent, credible and effective crime and
counter intelligence service and crime research agency with the necessary and prerequisite
capabilities, capacities and competences of conducting complex and high profile investigations
and seeing them through to successful credible prosecution.
The creation of the new national crime service agency will reduce the number of security
agencies with which the police and others have to deal, improving efficiency and reducing
bureaucracy in tackling crime. The new Agencys capabilities must be sophisticated and stay
one-step ahead of the organised criminals and the technologies and methods, which they use.

The country needs an agency that will drastically reduce opportunities for criminals to operate
and make profits out of their criminal activities. It should make crime proceedings unprofitable
and costly. The new crime agency should make it expensive to engage in organized crime.
The current police response to crime remains patchy and fragmented without professionalism,
with serious and organised criminality causing harm to communities up and down the country.
There has not been a cross-government organised crime strategy, coordinated border policing
and strong national tasking and coordination. Instead, there are competing agencies and
tendency to operate in silos. It is time for a fresh start.
The new national crime service agency will be hub of multiagency crime intelligence
capabilities and operational competences in tackling crime. It will build and maintain a
comprehensive picture of crime threat and risks across the country.
The new agency will have the authority to undertake tasking and coordination of the police
and other law enforcement agencies to ensure networks of organised criminals are disrupted
and prevented from operating. It will cooperate with international law enforcement agencies
in addressing cross border crimes.
To avoid delays in response to crime, the agency will have powers to step in to directly task
where there are disputes between and among internal security agencies.
To make it effective, the Agency will comprise a number of distinct operational centers namely
terrorism and Organised Crime; customs and border; economic and financial Crime, cyber
security crime; and human trafficking and sexual crime. A director reporting directly to the
director general of the agency will head each center. The agency will need to file its activities
report with National Parliament annually through National Police Service Commission.
Signed
Ndungu Wainaina
Executive Director