The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) George Kinoti is the Kenyan version of the legendary former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director J. Edgar Hoover who revolutionised the agency into an effective arm of federal law enforcement. The DCI chief’s ambition was always to fight crime and this has been clearly depicted by the jobs he has undertaken since graduating from the university.
He is a brave leader who risked his life in a bid to rescue a victim of a robbery. He was shot at 28 times with five bullets hitting his stomach and ripping apart his intestines.
This near-death incident strengthened his resolve to fight crime.
“I knew the thugs were killing me. I really fought. Fortunately, they did not get the upper part of my body. My stomach was ripped into pieces. Those who rescued me collected my intestines. My leg was in two pieces,” he told The Star.
He went on to say:
“My intestines were on the tarmac. Those who picked me up declared me dead. On arrival at the hospital, the nurses placed a tag on me saying ‘dead’…….”
It was a miracle that he survived and he has since declared he is not afraid to die fighting crime.
Age & Background
Kinoti was born in 1967 in the slums of Meru. It goes without saying that life in the slums is not easy for most people and he was no exception. He was brought up by a single mother.
Education
The head of DCI at one point wanted to become a priest and attended Pope Pius Seminary School. He joined Kanyakine High School and was a remarkable student who showed great leadership skills where he went to became the school captain. After high school, he joined Egerton University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology. He also got a Master’s degree in security from the same University.
Career
He worked as a private assistant to the Director of Criminal Investigation before quitting to form the Kanga Squad. This was a unit he formed so as to fight rising crime. The job was dangerous as it required them to undertake difficult tasks.
Previously, he had worked as head of security at the Central Bank of Kenya. He then served as National Police Service Spokesman.
In 2018, President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed him the Director of Criminal Investigation to replace Ndegwa Muhoro.
Recently, a Citizen TV journalist did an expose which showed how police lease their uniforms, guns, handcuffs, and other paraphernalia to criminals. This was not met well by Kinoti who accused the journalists of tainting the name of the police service. He added that they had filed a complaint with the Media Council of Kenya against the station.
Family
Kinoti has kept his family out of the public eye which is no surprise due to the nature of his work. In his position, he is likely to encounter scrupulous people who may use his family to get to him. He is married with three children and the only memorable time they have appeared in public was when he took them to celebrate Madaraka day.
Award
In 2018, he was among the hundreds of Kenyans who received awards and honors from president Uhuru Kenyatta. He was awarded the Chief of the order of the burning spear (CBS) award alongside Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji.
