In 2006, George Kinoti tendered his resignation when Maj-Gen Mohamed Ali transferred him to Kuria as deputy Division Commander. He was one of the officers targeted in a purge after former DCI Joseph Kamau fell out with the Kibaki government over the Artur brothers’ saga. At the time, Kinoti was head of Kanga Squad, a specialised unit mandated to pursue and eliminate criminal gangs in the city.
Ali rejected his resignation and revoked his transfer, deploying him instead to Vigilance House as the officer in charge of Complaints. It was the biggest testament yet as to the man’s institution-like status within the police service.
To those who know him well, his crime-busting methods are legendary; he has become a standard in how to be an investigator.
Between 2004 and 2005, Ngong town and its environs had become synonymous with strange murders. After a string of killings, in events that had completely baffled local police, Kinoti and a handful of officers went to work. Intelligence gathered showed the gang behind the killings was after ‘new comers’ who had bought land and built homes there. In about a month, Kinoti’s team had neutralised the gang and restored calm.
He as well solved a case involving author Ngugi was Thiong’o and his wife Njeeri, when they were attacked by gangsters at Norfolk Apartments in Nairobi. Initially, the case, with a different team of detectives, faced collapse. Under intense public pressure, Director Kamau disbanded the team and appointed a fresh one under Kinoti. Within weeks, he arrested one Chege Kiragu, a relation of Thiong’o’s who had been working with the first team, along with security guards who are now in jail.
After two years at Vigilance House, Kinoti was posted to Central Bank of Kenya where he rose to become assistant director in charge of security and investigation services. While there, he led crackdowns against illegal betting companies that had set shop in Upper Hill and at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, and busted operations of illegal forex bureaus that were involved in money laundering, following which he was promoted to Assistant Inspector-General of Police.
At his appointment in January this year, Kinoti’s first mission was to dismantle cartels that had taken over the DCI headquarters, who worked to stop, influence or divert investigations to accommodate their interests. Scores of detectives have been charged and sentenced in this regard. He, as well, overhauled the Flying Squad after complaints of collusion with criminals. In an address shortly afterwards, the DCI demanded nothing but efficiency from all his staff, and warned that he would fire – not transfer – those implicated in cover-ups and crime.
Kinoti studied Sociology and holds a master’s degree in Security Management from Egerton University. In late 2017, he was in Washington DC where he underwent training in border intelligence control, a collaboration between Kenya and US governments. He also attended the School of Professional Security Studies in Israel, the Bramshil Police Academy in the UK, and was a trainee of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on anti-money laundering as well as anti-terrorism.(
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