This archive report was first published on 3 January 2020.
On January 3, 2020, Nairobi News reported that the Flying Squad unit in Nairobi had been disbanded due to concerns over rogue officers.
The unit, which was formed in 1992, had its headquarters in Pangani, Nairobi County.
According to a source, the plan to disband the unit began while Joseph Boinnet was still at the helm of the service, after his office received complaints of how officers in the unit were operating.
"The complaints are part of the reason it was decided that the unit which is based in Nairobi is disbanded. This is because there was proof that some of the officers within the unit had gone rogue and were involved in crime," said a senior officer.
DCI boss George Kinoti had previously disbanded all flying squad sub-units in 2018 and ordered officers to hand over any police property in their possession.
However, the rogue officers continued to operate, passing themselves off as flying squad officers and committing crimes.
One such officer, Simon Mwaniki Festus, was arrested in connection with a Sh6 million robbery in Nairobi's Eastleigh estate, where the victim reported that part of the officers had introduced themselves as flying squad officers.
"He was on several occasions involved in the unit's operations within the city, for instance when three Mali nationals were arrested with fake dollars in Westlands, he was there," a senior officer said.
