More than half of Kenyans who fell victim to crime in the first half of 2026 chose not to report the incidents to police, with many saying they had little faith that officers would arrest or prosecute those responsible, a new TIFA Research survey has found.
The survey released on September 9, 2026, shows that 56% of crime victims did not report their cases to police.
Among those who chose not to report, 32% said they lacked confidence in the police because they viewed them as inefficient.
Another 19% said the incidents were not serious enough to warrant reporting, while 18% said they had instead reported the cases to other people or institutions.
These included local elders, religious leaders and assistant chiefs.
A further 13% cited lack of confidence in police because of corruption as the reason for not reporting their cases.
Other reasons given included being unable to reach a police station or lacking the means to do so, fear of revenge by criminals, lack of evidence or inability to identify the offender.
Some victims also said police were already aware of the incident or had responded to it.
TIFA said 8% of Kenyans reported that they had been victims of crime during the first six months of 2026.
The survey showed clear differences across regions, with the South Rift recording the highest proportion of people who said they had experienced crime at 14%.
Nairobi and Lower Eastern followed at 13% each.
The share was lower in Coast at 6%, while Northern and Central Rift each recorded 3%.
Among Kenyans who experienced crime, 39% said they had been victims more than once.
Of these, 34% said they had experienced two or three incidents, while 5% reported experiencing more than three.
Residential break-ins and burglaries were the most common crimes reported, accounting for 25% of cases.
Theft of property outside homes followed at 24%, while robbery with violence accounted for 18% and robbery without violence for 17%.
TIFA also found differences in crime reporting based on political views.
Among supporters of the Broad-Based Government, 43% said they reported crimes to police, compared with 38% of those who opposed the alliance.
The face-to-face survey involved 2,048 randomly selected adults across all 47 counties.
The interviews were conducted between June 13 and 22, 2026, with the survey carrying a margin of error of ±2.18 percentage points.