Alarm as police drop guard, now robbing citizens

National
By Pkemoi Ng'enoh | Nov 11, 2025

During their graduation after undergoing rigorous training, police officers take an oath promising to commit to defend the law and perform their duties without bias.

This includes a pledge to preserve peace, prevent offences, and adhere to the laws of the national police service as well as allegiance to the Constitution and the Head of State.

These words are now being questioned as to whether they still hold any importance, as cases of police officers engaging in robbery activities continue to emerge.

The latest case involves two police officers who were arrested on November 11 2025 in connection with attempted stealing. They are Inspector Simon Nyachea of Central Police Station and Police Constable Martin Mwai attached to the Parliament VIP protection unit. Also arrested was civilian Stephen Onyano, with all three said to have been on the radar until they were apprehended in Mai-Mahiu by the anti-banking fraud unit.

This comes barely a month after four police officers were arrested in Kiambu for abducting a businesswoman and robbing her of Sh260,000.

The suspects were Police Constable Philemon Kia Rai of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations Kiambu, Constable Klevin Ngaira of DCI Kiambu, and Lawrence Koech of Railways in Nairobi. One of the officers was said to have gone at large at the time of the arrest of the three officers, moved to court, and obtained anticipatory bail to prevent his arrest.

The officers, according to the police report, committed the offence on August 24, 2025 at Kirigiti Trading Centre. It was alleged that the businesswoman, identified as Beatrice Njoke, had arrived at her house in the Riambai area when she was abducted by four people who posed as visitors. They then allegedly took her mobile phone, escorted her outside her home, forced her into a waiting motor vehicle, and drove along the Kiambu-Ruiru road.

“Upon arrival at Kamiti Corner, they drove towards Kahawa West. They later stopped at Kiambu and Kahawa West areas. They took her out of the vehicle and forced her to withdraw a total of Sh260,000 from her M-Pesa account at different M-Pesa agents," the police statement read, adding, "After the ordeal, it is stated that they requested a taxi for her using her mobile number to be dropped at the Ndumberi area where she reported the matter.”

The matter was taken over by IPOA for further investigations. Security expert George Musamali describes the rise in cases involving police officers as a societal issue, adding that unlike before, people who join the service today are seeking jobs, not serving passionately.

“This is about management of police service and the human element. Nowadays, there is not enough scrutiny of those joining the service, thus those who make it through come with dubious characters whose background was not properly checked,” he said.

At the same time, police officers have human weaknesses, and like in any other sector, it has crooks, but in their case, they misuse the tools that are supposed to be used to guard citizens. He noted that leaders are also engaging in crimes, but no one talks about them—only when something happens does a blame game begin.

Share this story
.
RECOMMENDED NEWS