Probe Launched as Gigiri Police Officer Takes Own Life while on Duty

Police in Nairobi have launched investigations after a colleague from Gigiri Police station allegedly took his own life while on duty on Tuesday.

Police Constable David Machwa Mbatia (No 233456), police reports indicate, committed suicide by shooting himself using an AK 47 Riffle on Tuesday afternoon.

At the time of the incident, the officer was discharging his guard duties at the Amisom offices located behind the United States of America Embassy, four kilometres from the station.

The officer had reported to his workstation together with a female colleague at around 8:00am.

The female officer told her seniors, who visited the scene after the incident, that everything was normal until Tuesday afternoon.

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According to the officer, she left her workstation at around 2:20pm for lunch leaving PC Mbatia behind.

However, when she returned she found that he had shot himself.

It was not immediately clear why the officer took his own life.

Over the recent past, there has been a spike in suicide and murder cases within the National Police Service (NPS).

Psychological challenges have been identified as a major contributor to increased suicide cases among police officers.

In April this year, Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai urged the men and women in uniform to seek psycho-social support as part of efforts to deal with the alarming trend.

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Mutyambai said NPS has a dedicated department to handle the issues of mental health within the service at all times.

“This is already happening, NPS has a dedicated service to handle the issues of mental health within the Police service 24/7. We are encouraging all our officers to take up the services,” the IG said.

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