Nairobi Police Commander, James Mugera, refuted reports claiming that the crime rate surged in the city in the past weeks.
Mugera, in an interview with Citizen TV on Thursday, November 10, further claimed that the reports were meant to tarnish President William Ruto's new administration.
According to Mugera, only nine incidents of violent robberies were reported to the police in September and October 2022.
He thus urged Nairobi residents to remain calm as they go about their daily activities.
"There is no spike in crime. What changed is the political leadership. We have a new President, Parliament and Cabinet but the same service offered by the police.
"We have always been working. There was no lacuna whatsoever," Mugera argued.
He recounted the several incidents reported in the past months, with the recent stabbing and death of a university student in Ridgeways estate. The youth was ambushed by two thugs on a motorbike.
"We have had criminals snatching valuables like phones, laptops, and money from unsuspecting public members using motorbikes. This has been the cause of uproar among Kenyans," he explained.
"For instance, in the incident in Lucky Summer, we realised the weapon was used in three other cases after we completed our investigations," he added.
Mugera further urged members of the public to refrain from recycling old police reports on criminal activities. He pinpointed a case he claimed was shared widely, yet the incident happened outside Kenya.
"We have seen some of these reports are recycled. I noted some of them were reported the previous months and investigations were ongoing," Mugera clarified.
His statement came a few hours after the arrest of a 15-year-old boy who engaged detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and rangers from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) in a chase inside the Nairobi National Park on Wednesday, November 9.
According to DCI, the teenager was positively identified for violently stealing a phone, among other valuables, from a victim in South C.
Notably, on Thursday, November 10 evening, DCI in Thika rescued a university student from a case of robbery with violence.
The university student was walking to his room at night before being cornered by miscreants, prompting him to call for help.
A few days earlier, DCI apprehended a gang leader in Kayole estate.
