Kenya’s crime rate has increased by 19% in a challenging economic climate, according to a report

For the first time, the number of crimes committed and reported in Kenya surpassed 100,000, with a rise in stealing during difficult economic circumstances.

According to official data from the Kenya Economic Survey, there were 104,842 recorded crimes in 2018, a 19% increase from the previous year.

The surge was typified by a rise in employee theft, robberies, break-ins, and stock theft as more Kenyans struggled to make ends meet in the face of sharp inflation and high unemployment rates.

With fewer work possibilities and growing costs of goods and services, inflation last year averaged 7.7%, making living more difficult.

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reports that “all crimes reported to the police were on the rise, with the exception of homicide, which slightly decreased from 3,056 in 2022 to 3,031 in 2031.”

According to the data, theft grew by 25.9 percent to 18,534 last year, and robberies jumped by 27.76 percent to 3,988.

However, a tendency that was even more concerning was the growth in staff theft charges, which went up 12.8% to 1,907 and 6.7% to 2,860 in instances when employees stole stock.

Kenya struggled with extremely high inflation last year, which in March reached 9.2 percent, further taxing already hard-pressed people.

Kenyans also had to deal with a growing number of lost jobs as most companies tried to reduce staffing levels in response to higher taxes.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) issued a warning last year about the possibility of growing crime rates and more job losses as a result of firms cutting workers in response to additional levies enforced by the Finance Act of 2023.

The LSK had contended in court documents that “the result of massive job losses will be increased rates of crime as most of the unemployed youth population will be forced to resort to crime as a means of survival.”

There are worries that as businesses struggle with rising operating costs, crime rates will certainly climb in the upcoming months along with bleak employment prospects.

The number of inmates in the nation’s prisons climbed by 20.6 percent in the previous year, in line with rising crime rates.

According to the data, the number of detainees increased by 46.3 percent to 248,061 in the previous year, with 167,937 of them remaining unconvicted, suggesting that criminal case hearings and decisions were moving more slowly.

The number of reported criminal instances is rising, which increases attention to national security.

From 221 in the previous year to 115 last year, there were fewer illegal firearms turned in or forcibly seized. The counties with the biggest increases in recorded crimes were Kakamega (67%) and Narok (89.2%).

The counties of Vihiga, Nandi, Murang’a, and Kwale all reported an increase in criminal activity.

The only crime to see a decrease in 2017 was homicides, despite a more than twofold increase in the number of police officers engaged in criminal activity and attacks on visitors.

While crimes involving police officers increased by 133.7 percent to 180 last year, attacks on visitors increased by 161.5 percent to 68 recorded incidents.

Narcotic trafficking cases rose by 43% to 9,338 in the previous year, while economic crimes, such as money laundering, fraud, and swindling, grew by 13% to 4,970.