The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has invited the public to help unmask criminals who looted shops during the anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests.
In a statement on X on Monday, July 1, 2024, DCI noted that during the anti-Finance Bill 2024 protests that rocked Nairobi, certain people disguised themselves as peaceful protestors and were captured destroying property and looting various businesses.
“When the Kenyan youths (Gen Z) organized nationwide peaceful protests to reject the proposed 2024/2025 Finance Bill, other groups with criminal minds took advantage of the situation and devised schemes to cause harm and economically frustrate fellow Kenyans,” DCI stated.
“As a criminal investigative agency, it squarely falls within the mandate of the DCI to investigate and bring to book any persons involved in such outright criminality, which not only robbed numerous Kenyans of their means of livelihood but also worked towards compromising an otherwise crucial constitutional right.”
As part of their investigation, the crimebusters asked for public participation to bring to book those who turned peaceful demonstrations into a criminal activity of looting of businesses.
Further, DCI shared several methods that the public would use to report criminals.
“We can flush them from amongst our numbers because they do not share the principles that define what we stand for, and more so for the sake of those who did not deserve to lose their only means of livelihood in this manner. Do you know any of them? Please report to any police station or #FichuakwaDCI by calling our toll-free hotline 0800 722 203,” the statement added.
Additionally, DCI revealed that some Kenyans captured on camera had already been arraigned in court, while others were still at large and all initiatives were being used to bring them to justice.
“Whereas some have already been arrested and arraigned in various courts today, more are still out there on the streets waiting for other opportune times to strike again, causing more damage and risking the lives of innocent citizens caught up in the course of quelling the crimes,” DCI noted.
“In that regard, the DCI’s Imaging and Acoustic Unit domiciled at the National Forensic Laboratory has since retrieved numerous CCTV footages that captured identifiable persons, whose felonious acts isolate them from the hundreds of thousands that stuck to their course.”
CCTV footage
Remarks from the DCI come hours after the Nairobi Youth Business Community (NYBC) appealed to the police to pursue goons who looted businesses in Nairobi during the protests.
Speaking during a press briefing, the business owners revealed that they suffered after goons swept through the anti-Finance Bill protests and looted their businesses.
When the Kenyan youths (Gen Z) organized nationwide peaceful protests to exercise their democratic right rejecting the proposed 2024/2025 Finance Bill, other groups with criminal minds took advantage of the situation and devised schemes to cause harm and economically frustrate… pic.twitter.com/z7W0i74YkB
— DCI KENYA (@DCI_Kenya) July 1, 2024
Additionally, they said CCTV footage of suspected goons looting Nairobi shops during the demos had been obtained.
“We are ready to share the footage with authorities for their actions and wish to appeal to the police to pursue those behind the same for justice,” they said in a joint statement
The group said the loss of stock and vandalism resulted in the loss of jobs for many Kenyans who depended on the shops for a living.
Further, the business community lost over Ksh3 billion because of vandalism and looting during the protest.
