- According to the report released April 24, 46 people were killed by police in Nairobi, which dwarfs Kisumu as the second-highest county with 9 cases.
- "It is also important to note that Kisumu figures are high due to the protests on increased cost of living held in 2023," the report says.
You are more likely to die from a police bullet if you live in Nairobi compared to any other county in Kenya, Missing Voice Report 2023 shows.
According to the report released April 24, 46 people were killed by police in Nairobi, which dwarfs Kisumu as the second-highest county with 9 cases.
"It is also important to note that Kisumu figures are high due to the protests on increased cost of living held in 2023," the report says.
In 2022, Nairobi recorded the highest number of police killings, at 53 cases.
"It is saddening that Kenya’s capital is also the capital of police impunity since a majority of the cases of police killings and enforced disappearances over the years, including in 2023, have happened in Nairobi."
Kisii and Migori tied with seven cases each. Machakos and Nakuru had six cases each. Laikipia had 5, Kilifi, Siaya and Wajir had four cases each, Baringo and Lamu had three cases each.
Busia Kiambu, Makueni, Murang'a and Uasin Gishu had two cases each, Homa Bay, Kitui, Kwale and Tharaka Nithi had one.
The report shows that most of the killings occurred during police anti-crime operations by state security agencies.
In 2023, 58 people were killed because of anticrime operations compared to 91 cases during the same period in 2022.
Anti-riot killings increased in 2023 due to protests against the Finance Bill held by the opposition in March and July.
"Killings resulting from anti-terror operations decreased from 18 in 2022 to 1 in 2023," the report shows.
The report also shows that police officers have changed tack in fighting crime, preferring the barrel of the gun over arresting and subjecting suspects to the lengthy criminal justice system.
It shows that though extrajudicial killings have been largely on a decline since 2022, a huge number of those killed at the hands of police last year are unknown, with the group concluding that they are crime suspects whose details cannot be well accounted for.
The report shows that the number of those killed extra-judicially reduced by 9.2 per cent, from 130 in 2022 to 118 in 2023, while enforced disappearances reduced from 22 in 2022 to 10 in 2023, a 54.5 per cent decrease.
“Missing Voices recorded 118 cases of police killings and 10 enforced disappearance cases. This is a drop of 9.2 per cent in cases of police killings and 54.5 per cent decline in enforced disappearances if compared to 2022, where the coalition recorded 130 cases of police killings and 22 cases of enforced disappearances,” the report says
Police dispute the data, saying the service was not contacted by the lobbies when developing the report, hence could not give a comment for this story.
