Kenya: Police Faulted On ‘Most Wanted’ Criminals List

Aggrey Mutambo

26 June 2011

Nairobi — A human rights group has faulted the police for putting people’s names on the list of “most wanted criminals” before sufficient investigations.

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said people on the list must be given a chance to defend themselves against police accusations.

Chairperson Florence Jaoko said police sometimes issued certificates of good conduct to people it had earlier described as “most dangerous” in newspapers.

But the same police force refuses to remove the names from the list, she said.

Good conduct

“Putting people’s names carelessly on the list (of most wanted criminals) exposed them to unwarranted danger,” she said at the weekend.

“How could the same ‘criminals’ be allowed to obtain certificates of good conduct?”

The commission referred to three suspects who the police had earlier said were “most wanted”.

The men, aged between 21 and 23 years, said they had surrendered to the police more than three times but were released without any charges being levelled against them.

Mr Joseph Maina, Mr John Gitahi Kago and Mr Martin Mureithi Waceke told the commission that they had presented themselves to the police since the time their pictures were published in newspapers earlier this month.

But they were released after “brief questioning”. The commission said their rights had been violated.

“The police should delete their names from that list because it is a danger to their lives. In any case, the three haven’t been charged with any crime,” said commissioner Hassan Omar.

The commission had earlier taken them to Kilimani Police Station where they recorded another statement and were let go.

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