PROBLEM STATEMENT

A happy nation is healthy nation, it has always been the dream of any citizen in a country to live in a
peaceful society free from any fear that is to be caused by crime. A society full of harmony, parents
watching their children grow, go to learning institutions from Kindergarten to the tertiary institutions
hence getting employed or venturing into their passions e.g., art , music hence building the economy. A
society where tourists feel at ease vising the beautiful sceneries of the country, enjoying the good
temperature at the coast, enjoying what Kenya has to offer. A society where investors feel confident in
terms of the security for their investments. A society where the normal ‘mwananchi’ can believe in his
or her brother or sister as a common family.

However, this is not a case, when we look into our society ravaged with poverty, greed, drug abuse, peer
pressure, ethnicity, social classing and robbery. Although rules and regulations have been set, human
beings still continue to commit crime. People have normalized inhumanity cruelty. A report by the Kenya
Police Service (General, 2018) shows that crime rates have increased massively. In the year 2018, there
was 88,268 reported cases as compared to 777,992 in 2017 which was increase of 10,276 cases or 13%.
In 2016, there were 77,896 general cases reported to police which increased to 77,972 in 2017
translating to an increase of 1006 or 1%. These numbers were projected to rise in 2020.

As at 2020, the projections became a reality to our despair. Records of the (Service, 2020) shows that
theft cases by 8,709, dangerous trafficking recorded an increase of 4,477, house breakings 4,252, rape
4,304, criminal damage 3,530, murder taking the lead with over 10,000 cases reported annually not
taking into account unreported crimes that criminals get away with. This study aims at exploring and
understanding the key factors that have influenced the abrupt rise. The study will highlight areas like
drug abuse, unemployment, depression; and poverty and how they majorly act as propelling factors to
the increased crimes in Kenya.