Security

Five suspects charged with robbery with violence escaped from Limuru Police Station in Kiambu County on Wednesday night after overpowering officers on duty, Pulse Live Kenya reported. Kenyans.co.ke also reported the escape. Security agencies have launched a manhunt. The escape happened at about 11pm on November 4, according to a police report cited by Pulse Live Kenya. Duty officers had opened the main male holding cells to move 10 detainees to an inner holding room. Moments after leaving the cell, the suspects turned on the officers and fought their way out. Losing control, the officers raised the alarm and called for backup. The suspects attacked several of the officers who came to help. They then broke out of the station compound and vanished into the night. The report does not say how many officers were hurt or how badly. A team of Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers from headquarters in Nairobi went to Limuru to work with local police. Investigators are reviewing the sequence of events, following leads and searching nearby…

The European Union has donated non-lethal military equipment to the Kenya Navy, the Daily Nation reported. The handover took place on Tuesday at Kenya Navy Headquarters in Mombasa. The donation was made under the European Peace Facility (EPF). The government-run Kenya News Agency put the value of the equipment at KSh 3 billion. Kenya Navy Commander Major General Paul Otieno received the equipment from Maciej Stadejek. Stadejek is Director for Peace, Security and Defence Policy at the European External Action Service. EU Ambassador to Kenya Andreas Peschke accompanied him. The equipment will go to the Kenya Navy Special Operations Squadron, a unit that handles complex maritime security threats. Otieno said it will make the unit's personnel safer, more ready and more effective. Otieno called the handover an important milestone in Kenya-EU defence cooperation. He said it was more than a transfer of equipment. He described it as "a tangible expression of confidence in Kenya as a reliable security partner." He said the two sides share a commitment to international law, especially the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and…

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has defended the Kenya Kwanza administration's record on abductions. He said it had done more to curb them than any previous government, The Star reported. Murkomen spoke during a National Assembly plenary session on Wednesday while answering questions from MPs. He said reported kidnappings and abductions had declined sharply since 2022. According to The Star's report, he gave no figures. He added that security agencies were investigating reported incidents, including cases that turned out to be self-abductions. The CS said the government had set up a specialised Anti-Abduction Investigations Unit. He called it evidence of the administration's commitment to tackling the problem. He also said ending extrajudicial killings had been a policy pledge since the 2022 campaign. "You have not seen cases of bodies floating in rivers as it happened in the last government," he said. Murkomen admitted that security challenges remain. He urged Kenyans to judge…

Twenty-one drivers were arrested in a joint inter-agency night operation on the Kakamega-Mumias Road, the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) said. The Star reported that officers caught motorists driving drunk, driving without valid licences and using expired Public Service Vehicle (PSV) badges. Kenyans.co.ke reported that the arrests took place on Tuesday night and that the offences also included overspeeding. Officers also found faults with the vehicles themselves. According to NTSA, these included cracked windscreens, worn-out tyres and expired inspection certificates. Some vehicles had invalid insurance, and others carried unprescribed number plates, The Eastleigh Voice reported. The operation is part of NTSA's festive season campaign, Msimu Bila Ajali, Usalama Barabarani. The campaign pairs awareness drives for drivers and passengers with day and night checks on major roads. NTSA said it is prioritising night operations because evening and late-night hours are among the deadliest times on Kenyan roads. "By allocating additional resources during these high-risk hours, we can maximise efforts to disrupt the critical risk factors that cause…