UK Warns its Citizens against Walking in the Streets of Nairobi

The United Kingdom has warned its citizens living in and those traveling to Kenya to avoid walking in the streets of Nairobi and Mombasa.

In a statement, the UK cited the increased cases of muggings and other criminal-related incidents reported within Nairobi’s central business district and other cities in recent times.

“Bag snatching is common in transport hubs like bus stations, railway stations and airports. Mugging, kidnapping, car-jacking and armed robbery occur regularly, particularly in Nairobi, Mombasa and other large cities. Foreigners are not generally targeted, but incidents of violent crime have resulted in the death of several British nationals in recent years,” the report read in part.

Last month, the resurgence of daylight robbery by organised gangs in the city centre prompted Nairobi governor Mike Sonko to form an anti-mugging squad to get rid of the criminals, who mostly targeted persons leaving banking institutions, mobile money shops and the general public.

Governor Sonko alleged that politicians were behind the gangs carrying out the criminals activities.

“My office has today formed an anti-mugging squad which will work closely with Kenya Police. We’ve also received intelligence that some politicians and business people are funding youths to terrorize people. We are on lookout and several arrests will be made forthwith,” Sonko said in a tweet.

Further, the UK categorised Kenya as one of the countries with high risk of political unrest, due to differences between government and the opposition, over last year’s bitterly contested presidential election.