Kenyans thoughts as suspects hold placards indicating their crimes after arrest

Kenyans online have reacted to the latest move by the National Police Service move to have suspected criminals hold placards written with their offenses, after the arrest of several fraud suspects linked to MPESA swindling.

It all started with three men who were arrested Tuesday evening by police officers, in the ongoing investigations into the alleged SIM-swap syndicate in which they are believed to be part of cons who swindled Sh1.9 million from a Kiambu County MCA.

According to the police, and of course the placards they hold, the three - Joseph Kuria Kariuki, Grace Wanjira and Meshack Okoth Okuta – committed fraud offences.

The three are displayed holding placards with these offenses, without involving a jury to determine whether guilty or not.

The move elicited different reactions from a section of the public, with some opining that police may have taken the numerous roles of investigating, judging, prosecution and sentencing at the same time.

Twitter user Tim Kirima felt that it was a publicity stunt by the police demanding that the they should have done the same to the significant economic crimes, namely corruption in State agencies including National Youth Service, KPLC, and NCPB among others.

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“I would be happy to see the police parade the big thieves of scandals KPLC transformers, NYS, Ruaraka Land, etc holding similar placards with names, IDs, phone numbers, etc like you've paraded these petty fraudsters. Why the double standards,” Kirima opines.

Mocha Eric adds: “I am of the opinion that all suspects even those of corruption charges to hold placards too. Don't be selective.”

Another tweep, Hassan Abdirahman‏ said: “Now if these guilty culprits end up in cells, the likelihood of them continuing with such scheme with Prison officers is high. If Safaricom with its market might is not able to seal the loopholes from its MPESA platform, it should compensate victims of fraud!”

Others lauded the move, terming it a scheme to try and root out crime in Kenya.

“This is a good strategy in eliminating crime. Exposing people behind various crimes in public give us, residents a chance of knowing who they're. That way, we're able to effectively police our space. These criminals live among us, but hard, at times, to know what they do for a living,” Kab Kam said via Twitter.

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