DCI Responds To Reports Of Forming Anti-Abduction Unit

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has deemed reports of the Inspector General of Police approving the formation of a police anti-abduction unit as fake.

The flagged letter dated January 22 stated that the Inspector General of Police had considered and approved a proposal from the DCI for 30 police officers from the Kenya Police and Administration Police Service to be interviewed and once selected, be deployed in the anti-abduction unit.

The letter went on to state that the authority figures directed that interested and qualified police officers be informed of the new development so that they could tender their applications by filling in their details on the Google Forms link provided in the letter.

The counterfeit letter listed seven qualifications that interested candidates must have attained to be eligible to apply. Among them was that applicants had to be within the rank of police constable to inspector. (PC-IP).

Interested candidates were also required to have attained a mean grade of C+ (plus) or above in their Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) and be aged 40 years or below to qualify.

Another qualification in the fake letter was that interested candidates had to have served in the police service for five years or more. A clean disciplinary record was also a requirement.

Further, candidates would only have been eligible to apply if they had passed the whole of police law examinations. Possession of a certificate of attendance in basic crime investigation would have been an added advantage as per the letter.

In the fake letter, applications should have been submitted on or before Sunday, January 26 by midnight. The letter noted that the interview date and venue were to be communicated at a later date.

The latest development adds intrigue to the discussions surrounding the recent abductions in the country. Not too long ago, Human Rights Watch (HRW) remarked on the recent surge in abductions and enforced disappearances of Kenyan citizens as well as those from neighbouring countries.

On January 16, 2025, the group attributed them to a shadowy government-linked special squad, reminiscent of the disbanded Special Service Unit (SSU) under the previous regime. The activists alleged that this new unit, known as the Operation Support Unit (OSU), has been behind a series of kidnappings and disappearances.