At least 483 Kenyans committed suicide in the last three months raising alarm across the country concerning mental health. According to the recent data from the National Police, Kiambu County is topping the list of counties with the highest numbers of suicides.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has called on the government to commission research to determine the root cause of the worrying trend. Most people have attributed the increasing cases of depression and mental health among Kenyans.
“We have never recorded such a high number of suicides before and this is not only alarming but calls for urgent remedial measures,” said DCI boss George Kinoti.
At the same time, Kenya recorded 409 cases of life-threatening assaults, mostly among couples. Some have ended up killing each other. Findings have also indicated that men are more prone to committing suicide than women.
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The youngest person reported to have committed suicide was nine years while the oldest was 76 years old. The nine-year-old did not leave behind any note, but it is suspected he may have committed suicide due to scolding by parents for poor performance in school.
The statistics represent a sharp increase, considering that only 196 suicide cases were reported in 2019 according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS). Most of the suicides have also been attributed to the high cost of living among Kenyans.
Kenya National Police Service annual crime reports also show that between 2015 and 2018, 1,442 persons were reported to have attempted suicide. Kenyans have been called upon to help in establishing the root cause of these suicides.
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The scary statistics have come at a time Kenya is reporting increased cases of missing persons with the majority of them turning out dead.