Nairobi, Kenya – Several motorists in Nairobi on Thursday lost their valuables to a group of unruly youth who stormed the Central Business District (CBD).
The youth, who were riding on several motorbikes, could be seen making away with phones, laptops and shopping stolen from motorists on Uhuru Highway.
According to some eyewitnesses, the youths used getaway motorbikes to flee immediately after stealing from members of the public, Nairobi News reports.
“They are snatching phones from passengers and motorists and fleeing the scene on waiting motorbikes,” said one boda boda who operates from Nyayo House.
Nairobi News witnessed boda boda operators giving chase after the youths snatched a phone from a taxi passenger. As they were running after him, he jumped on a motorbike and fled the scene.
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“They have stayed here for more than 20 minutes and all they are doing is stealing and snatching things from members of the public,” said another witness, who works as a shoe shiner.
Nairobi has reported the highest number of crimes compared to any other county in the country. A recent research by the Nation show that you are more likely to encounter criminals in Nairobi than other parts of the country.
Other counties that have recorded an upsurge of crime are Kiambu and Meru with increased during the Covid-19 pandemic. Data from the Economic Survey also show that the three counties accounted for over a quarter of the 81,272 crimes reported in the last year.
Nairobi County topped the list after it recorded a total of 6,686 crimes and Kiambu County followed at 5,715 while Meru was third with 5,032 cases.
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“Nairobi City police command station accounted for the highest number of persons reported to have committed crime at 8.5 percent, Kiambu and Meru at 6.7 percent and 6.1 percent,” the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said in the report.
In the last five years, a report by the National Police Service reveals that Nairobi county residents reported criminal cases to police stations as follows; in 2017, a total of 7,434 cases were reported.
In 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021, the cases were 7,128, 8,246, 5,844, 6,686 cases respectively. It has also emerged that the majority of the cases reported are reported by men compared to the female gender.
“The total number of people reported to have committed homicide went up by 9.3 percent from 2494 cases in 2020 to 2,726 cases in 2021,” the report also revealed.
In Nairobi you are more likely to be robbed, mugged, raped and even killed that any other part of the country.
A research conducted by the National Crime Research Center which is a government body that keeps data and records on crime rates showed that mugging topped the list of various crimes in the country.
Mugging recorded a 68.8 percentage while at the National level the percentage was 19.1, second on the list was stealing which within Nairobi recorded 54.9 percent while the national level was at 40.4 percent. Third on the list is burglary and breakings which recorded 51.1 percent in Nairobi compared to 42 percent nationally.
Robbery with violence and possession of narcotic drugs came in at fourth and fifth position as they recorded 30.2 and 30.1 in Nairobi. Robbery with no violence came at the sixth position after recording 30.2 percent but recorded 10.6 percent nationally.
The seventh, eighth and ninth position were crimes of murder, assault causing body harm and rape that recorded 13, 9.8 and 9.7 percent.
Being drunk and disorderly, gender based violence, being in position of drugs/ illicit brew and child abuse were at position 10, 11 and 12 respectively and were reported at the rate of 5, 4.9 and 4.5 percent.
The high number of crime rates within the city and worries that one may get attacked or being stolen from in a survey conducted by numbeleo also showed some of the criminal elements that people fear. Most Kenyans fear walking alone during the night and feel safer doing so during the day for fear of being mad.
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