Kenyan Internal Security Minister John Michuki has told police to shoot and kill any armed criminals, the Saturday Standard newspaper reported.

Michuki was quoted as saying police would no longer arrest armed criminals since they have ill intentions when they illegally acquire the weapons.

"How do you arrest someone who has a gun and is ready to fire? Or will you arrest him when you are already dead?" he asked.

The minister said police would continue to act within the law to contain armed criminals, but he also lamented that the law was lenient on the thugs.

He said the majority of the armed criminals are released on a 2, 000 Kenyan shillings (about 28.6 U.S. dollars) bail, whereas the damage they cause to the society is enormous and devastating.

At the same time, he defended police over accusations that they were trigger-happy and ruthless on criminals.

He said the government would not allow criminals to continue killing police officers.

"Criminals who derive pleasure from shooting at and killing police officers will soon realize how mistaken they are."

The minister made the remarks on Friday when he presided over the passing out parade of some 1,376 police recruits at the GSU Training School, Embakasi.

Michuki said the carrying of illegal firearms will soon be a costly venture for those who do so as amendments would be made on the law to have stiffer penalties on criminals.

The proposed amendments to the offence of handling illegal firearms will be tabled in the Parliament when it resumes in March.

He also said that the police would soon acquire gadgets to enable officers detect concealed weapons.

At least six police officers have been shot dead by thugs this month. In the same period, the police have also killed 46 suspected criminals in Nairobi alone.

The number of the suspects killed has attracted condemnation from watchdogs who want the officers to arrest criminals instead of killing them.

Source: Xinhua