Kwale Governor Fatuma Achani and County Commissioner Steve Orinde have dismissed a recent report by the National Crime Research Centre (NCRC) that ranked Kwale among counties most affected by juvenile gangs.

During events at Matuga Girls and Kwale High National Schools, the two leaders said the findings were misleading.

They acknowledged the existence of isolated juvenile gang incidents but insisted the situation is not as dire as painted in the report.

“Security in Kwale has significantly improved. Our officers are on high alert, and we have made substantial progress in addressing youth-related crime,” said Achani.

Achani criticised the report, saying that the organisation ought to have conducted a thorough and objective study before publishing such sensitive findings.

She said the data released by the NCRC does not reflect the reality on the ground.

“Let’s be careful, our main economy is tourism, and we’ve worked hard to market Kwale. Let’s not destroy that,” she said.

The governor said some of the incidents were politically motivated.

Orinde said security teams have dismantled several juvenile gangs through proactive surveillance and community policing.

He added that the state of law and order in Kwale does not warrant such negative classification.

“We want to urge the organisation to go back to the drawing board, engage local stakeholders, and get their facts right,” he said.

Orinde said a few isolated cases should not be used to classify the entire county as unsafe.

He noted that security agencies have made notable strides in tackling insecurity, adding that the situation is under control and that any reported case was being swiftly addressed.