The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is a Kenyan law enforcement agency under the National Police Service (NPS). Its primary mandate is to investigate all serious criminal cases as provided for by law.
The DCI is one of the country’s elite units and has invested in intelligence and training to ensure it stays up to date with the latest trends in crime.
The DCI is an equivalent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States of America.
While the agency has been successful in investigating and arresting some of the country’s most dangerous criminals, there are instances where it has also made glaring mistakes, as described above.
Westgate mall attack
On 21 September 2013, the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi, Kenya, was attacked by terrorists, leaving at least 67 people dead and many others injured. The attack is one of the worst in Kenya’s history.
Following its investigation, the DCI, in a statement posted on its X account (formerly Twitter) on September 21, 2023, noted that there are things it should have done better, for example, in terms of intelligence gathering before the attack.
In his statement, the DCI said that a group of Al Shabaab terrorists in Somalia worked with their contacts in the Kakuma refugee camp and in Nairobi to plan the attack.
The agency said investigations established that eight mobile phone lines directly linked to the attack were registered in Nairobi and switched on days before the attack.
The agency said proper intelligence work on its part would have helped avert the crisis, but it has now created a team that is on alert 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for any eventuality related to terrorism.
“Based on our response following the attack, the Criminal Investigations Directorate learned from its mistakes and has since put mitigation measures in place to ensure that such an attack does not occur,” the agency said.
Fake photos of anti-government protests in March 2023 were published
On March 24, 2023, four days after a section of Kenyans led by the Azimio la Umoja coalition took to the streets to protest the high cost of living, the DCI published photographs of people allegedly involved in criminal acts.
The DCI released images of several people and said they were wanted for violent acts in connection with the protest.
“Criminals who took advantage of the demonstrations were caught on camera destroying public property, attacking innocent members of the public and throwing projectiles at police officers who were on duty protecting life and property. The Directorate is currently on a hunt for the suspects whose images appear below, while more are being collected and will be updated. We appeal to members of the public to voluntarily provide information that may lead to their arrest,” reads part of the statement.
Following the statement, Kenyans investigated and established that most of the images were not related to the protest. This led the DCI to issue a public apology, citing a mix-up.
“The Criminal Investigations Directorate would like to apologise unreservedly to the public for the image confusion in yesterday’s statement, which was intended to request information on the whereabouts of criminal suspects involved in Monday’s illegal demonstrations,” reads part of the statement.
Misleading image released about protest against 2024 Finance Bill
On 3 July 2024, DCI released images of people wanted by police for allegedly committing illegal activities during protests against the Finance Bill 2024.
The agency urged those whose images appeared on the poster to report to the nearest police station for further enforcement action.
One of the images showed an individual posing in Parliament. However, the individual in question came forward and provided evidence showing that he had posted the image on his Facebook page several days before the protesters invaded Parliament.
The individual named Dennis Basweti said he was invited to Parliament by Majority Leader Sylvanus Osoro who took him on a tour of the Augusta House where the photographs were captured.
Osoro corroborated Basweti’s statement, prompting the DCI to issue an apology.
“The DCI has since confirmed that Mr Dennis Basweti’s account is true and has contacted him to offer an apology, further commending him for his belief in the DCI’s commitment to conducting thorough and fair investigations,” the DCI said.
