/ 30 May 2001

CRIME WAVE SWAMPS NAIROBI

CRIME in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, has reached alarming proportions with the UN rating the city on a par with crime-prone regions like Bogota and Colombia. In Nairobi cars can be snatched at gunpoint and women donning jewellery are ready targets for snatchers. The surge has galvanised ordinary Kenyans into mounting neighbourhood vigilante groups, while police posts have been set up in the main business district and surrounding areas. – Pana