This archive report was first published on 4 January 2020.
On December 30, 2019, a five-hour meeting between DCI chief George Kinoti and senior officers at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters marked the culmination of a long-planned decision to disband the Flying Squad.
The Flying Squad, a unit established in July 1992 as an elite quick response force to combat violent crimes in Nairobi and its environs, had been accused of extrajudicial killings and other acts of lawlessness.
According to sources, the plot to disband the Flying Squad had been hatched a week before the end-year meeting, which was the culmination of DCI chief's ambition of not just curtailing the influence of Flying Squad Unit, but disbanding it.
DCI chief George Kinoti had previously stated that the unit had become rogue and inefficient, and had redeployed Flying Squad officers based out of Nairobi, a decision that got mixed reactions from the public.
However, Kinoti remained unshaken, and would later tell our reporter that with the exit of Flying Squad officers, the number of carjacking incidents and robberies along major highways had reduced by half.
It is worth noting that Kinoti had a personal brush with the unit, which he would like to easily forget. When he served as the Police Spokesman, a man whose car had been impounded by officers from the Meru Flying Squad Unit asked him for help after officers declined to release the vehicle and demanded cash payment.
On January 1, Kinoti released a statement announcing the disbanding of the Flying Squad, stating that the unit had been disbanded with effect from that day.
The disbanding of the Flying Squad was not an easy matter, and there were compelling reasons that would see officers lose perks and prestigious positions and being relegated to boring desk jobs.
It is clear that the decision to disband the Flying Squad was a result of internal politics rocking the DCI, and the plot to kill the Flying Squad was known only to Kinoti and his small team.
