The National Police Service Spokesperson Charles Owino says the prolonged political stalemate is to blame for the recent robberies and muggings in the Nairobi City Centre.
According to Owino, most youths are now idle after the elections, forcing some of them to turn to crime.
Owino in an interview with the Star also partly blamed the surging numbers of street children. He said the service has got intelligence that some people are disguising themselves as street children with the motive to rob people.
“We have to get to know the cause of these muggings. We have experienced the longest political period in the country and now it is over. These youth had been kept busy by politicians who were paying them to run their campaigns but now after either winning or losing they have left the youth with nothing,’ Owino said.
The spokesperson also said the police service has asked Sonko’s government to flush out street children.
“We have asked the county government to collaborate with the police and identify genuine street children from the imposters. Those genuine should be settled somewhere for rehabilitation as we look for better ways to deal with the imposters,” he said.
Owino further asked the county government through their inspectorate department to look at humane ways to get hawkers out of the CBD.
This he said will play a key role in identifying those taking advantage of the congestion in the CBD to rob people.
“You can imagine the congestion in town mixed with hawkers on every street and the street children. Sometimes this gives our officers a hard time in dealing with these criminal elements as they disappear in the crowds,’ he said.
He said more plain-clothed officers have been deployed specifically to monitor the gangs and arrest them.
So far, over 35 suspects have been arrested and arraigned in connection with robbery with violence.
