You are likely to get killed or robbed in 10 rich counties

Ten of some of the wealthiest counties account for nearly half of the crimes reported nationally even as cases surged in 22 counties.

You are likely to get killed or robbed in Nairobi, Kiambu, Meru, Nakuru, Mombasa, Machakos, Bungoma, Kisii, Murang’a, and Uasin Gishu, according to latest crime statistics.

Collectively, the 10 counties recorded 36,942 of the 77,992 crimes reported to police nationwide last year, which translates to 47 per cent.

The 10 collectively control about a third (Sh86.5 billion) of the Sh314 billion allocated to the 47 counties this year, pointing to a connection between high crime rates and thriving economies in populous regions.

Nationally, there was a slight increase in crimes, including homicide, robbery, corruption, traffic offences, economic crimes, and dangerous drugs reported last year (77,992) compared to 76,986 in 2016.

Nairobi, Embu, Kitui, Machakos, and Trans Nzoia are among 22 counties that recorded an increase in crimes reported last year compared to 2016, according to the Economic Survey 2018 released by the Government last week.

Reported suicide cases increased last year compared to 2016 (see separate story).

Meru County

Nairobi and Meru had the highest crime cases reported. Nairobi recorded 7,434 incidents in 2017, compared to 4,954 recorded in 2016, while Meru County recorded 5,151 cases in 2017 and 5,117 in 2016.

Machakos recorded 2,633 incidents in 2017 and 2,452 in 2016, while Uasin Gishu recorded 2,072 in 2017 and 2,068 in 2016.

Kakamega County recorded the highest decline in crimes reported from 2,382 in 2016 to 1,584 in 2017.

Nationally, incidents of murder, robbery with violence, and breaking in increased marginally last year compared to 2016.

The report shows there were 2,774 murder incidents in 2017, compared to 2,751 in 2016, 2,648 in 2015, 2,649 in 2014, and 2,878 in 2013.

There were 2,713 robbery incidents in 2017, 2,697 in 2016, and 2,865 in 2015. Some 6,131 cases of breaking in were reported in 2017, 5,621 in 2016, and 5,591 in 2015.

Offences against morality stood at 5,492 in 2017, 6,228 in 2016, and 6,164 in 2015.

There were 784 cases of rape, 3,487 cases of defilement, 287 cases of incest, 107 sodomy, 26 bestiality, 245 indecent assault, 138 abduction, and 68 bigamy cases in 2017.

In 2016 there were 923 rape cases, 4,512 defilement, 288 incest, 81 sodomy, 44 bestiality, 155 indecent assault, 53 abductions, and 13 bigamy cases.

The report says the total number of crimes reported to the police increased by 1.3 per cent from 76,986 in 2016 to 77,992 in 2017, while there were 72,490 cases in 2015 and 69,376 in 2014.

Among the crimes reported to the police, other offences against persons such as assault, creating a disturbance, and affray collectively accounted for two per cent of all reported cases.

Stealing accounted for 14.9 per cent of the reported cases in 2017.

The Nairobi City County command station recorded the highest number of cases, representing 9.7 per cent of all cases reported to police. The total number of persons reported to have committed criminal offences decreased by 2.6 per cent from 75,007 in 2016 to 73,069 in 2017.

The number of persons reported to have committed suicide increased from 302 in 2016 to 421 in 2017, while those reported to have committed murder decreased from 1,439 in 2016 to 1,435 in 2017.

The number of persons reported to have committed offences related to dangerous drugs decreased from 5,994 in 2016 to 4,519 in 2017. Persons reported to have committed offences relating to criminal damage declined from 4,339 to 4,124 over the same period.

Persons reported to have committed economic crimes increased from 3,106 in 2016 to 3,218 in 2017 while those reported for corruption-related offences increased from 97 to 275.

The number of police officers reported to have been involved in crime declined from 219 in 2016 to 71 in 2017.

The number of firearms recovered was 183 in 2017 compared to 436 in 2016 while ammunition recovered was 2,653 in 2017 compared to 4,694 in 2016.

The total number of cases handled by the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) increased from 7,917 in 2015/16 to 8,096 in 2016/17.

Corruption cases

According to the report, cases referred to other investigative agencies decreased from 215 in 2015/16 to 136 in 2016/17 while corruption cases referred for investigation declined by 3.1 per cent from 3,856 in 2015/16 3,735 in 2016/17. The total number of ethics and corruption reports forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions decreased from 167 in 2015/16 to 143 in 2016.

In 2017, 384 environmental crimes were reported to National Environment Management Authority), of which 253 were related to illegal dumping of waste.

The report says the number of cases filed in courts decreased by 25.6 per cent from 462,792 in 20 to 344,180 in 2017.

Cases disposed of decreased by 26.6 per cent from 426,603 in 2016 to 313,075 in 2017.

Pending cases increased by 6.2 per cent from 499,341 in 2016 to 530,446 2017.

Persons committed to prison decreased marginally from 210,227 in 2016 to 209,870 in 2017, while the number of convicted prisoners decreased from 82,4 to 80,404. Overall, 39.3 per cent of persons committed to prison in 2017 were convicts.