DCI boss Amin Mohamed disbands Special Service Unit (SSU)
Newly appointed Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Mr Amin Mohamed on Friday evening issued orders disbanding the Special Service Unit (SSU).
The unit had been formed by former DCI boss Mr George Kinoti who resigned from the position days after President Dr William Ruto was sworn in as the Head of State.
In a statement issued by the DCI, all the officers who served in the unit were also recalled to the DCI Headquarters located along the busy Kiambu Road.
“The DCI Special Service Unit (SSU) has been disbanded with immediate effect. This follows a directive from the acting Inspector General Mr Noor Gabow. All the officers serving in the disbanded unit have been recalled to DCI Headquarters for further instructions,” the statement read in part.
It also revealed that currently, the National Police Service (NPS) is preparing to reorganize under the new administration.
Mr Gabow was named the acting Inspector General following an earlier retirement that was taken by Mr Hillary Mutyambai.
However, a senior detective at the DCI Headquarters told Nairobi News the officers were disarmed and suspended.
“The officers have also been put under 24-hours surveillance, it remains unclear what the plans are but we shall know with time,” said the senior sleuth who spoke in confidence as they are not authorised to speak to the media.
During Mr Kinoti’s reign, SSU was his favorite team which had been tasked with dealing with serious crimes in the country.
In December 2019, the DCI overhauled its Anti-Operations Unit in an aim that was meant to fight crime in the country.
The famous Flying Squad which was accused of extra Judicial Killings was disbanded and replaced by Sting Squad Headquarters (SSH) and the Special Crime Preventions Unit was scaled down and renamed the Special Service Unit (SSU).
While making the announcement, Mr Kinoti said that members of the newly formed units will be directly linked to the Crime Research intelligence Bureau (CRIB) for intelligence driven operations.
Months later, statements of armed robbers being shot dead by officers issued by the DCI linked the operations to officers attached to SSU.
In August 2020, former Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala alleged that the SSU was an assassination squad.
In a letter addressed to then Police boss Hillary Mutyambai, Mr Kinoti and Interior CS Dr Fred Matiang’i, Malala, who unsuccessfully contested for the Kakamega Governorship in the August 2022 polls said his life was in danger and that members of SSU had been sent to assassinate him.
“I now request your office to take immediate action to enhance the security detail assigned to me, including additional security provided immediately to my family and my residences in Kakamega and Nairobi,” part of his letter read.
This did not go well with Mr Kinoti who ordered investigators to visit the National Police Service (NPS) Headquarters with the aim of finding out the identities of the purported police officers alleged to be members of SSU assassination squad as claimed by Mr Malala.
Equally, Mr Miguna Miguna, an exiled lawyer based in Canada in January 2020, claimed that his vehicle had been illegally seized by DCI officers.
He asked the former DCI boss to ensure that the motor vehicle is handed back to the person who was driving it when five officers who work with SSU took it.
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