Benson Amadala

3 August 2010

Nairobi — Law enforcers are spending sleepless nights racking their brains to come up with new strategies to deal with a vicious spate of crime reported in Kakamega in the last one month.

Residents are living in fear of armed gangs that engage in robberies and maim their victims with machetes and other weapons. The upsurge in robbery cases has eroded public confidence in the campaign to deal with criminal gangs.

Ikolomani MP Boni Khalwale has taken up the debate and heaped the blame on police officers, whom he accuses of failing to tackle crime effectively.

The vocal MP raised the issue of insecurity in Kakamega in Parliament last month before MPs proceeded for recess ahead of the referendum campaigns.

Mr Khalwale got residents of his constituency to demonstrate after a trader was shot dead by gunmen who raided a bar.

Victims of the robberies told the Daily Nation that two of the culprits were dressed in jungle uniforms similar to those worn by police officers.

Criminal gangs are surfacing in rural villages after police officers mounted a crackdown on touts operating at bus termini in Kakamega.

The touts had formed cartels that had taken over the running of bus parks and were charging owners of public service vehicles a fee to allow them to operate from the terminuses.

But the crackdown pushed many of them out of business and denied them their only source of livelihood, leading to the rise in crime.

Doing their best

Investigations by police indicate that inmates who have been freed after serving their sentences are suspected to be rejoining the criminal gangs.

Western Province police boss Kingori Mwangi said officers were doing their best to ensure the armed gangs were arrested and prosecuted.

"We suspect that some of those involved in crime are trying to hit back after the police cracked down on the cartels that were running the bus termini and fleecing matatu operators," Mr Mwangi said.

In response to the crime wave, police patrols have been stepped up and members of a special crime investigations unit sent to monitor activities of suspected criminals.

Last month, an Asian trader was shot dead as he left his house to take money to a bank, sparking a protest over insecurity in the town.

But police officers managed to crack the riddle a few days later when they tracked down the three people believed to be gangsters and shot them dead on the Kakamega-Mumias road.

Kakamega police boss Hamisi Mabeya said investigations showed that the three were on the list of criminals wanted by police for being involved in robberies in Western and Nyanza provinces.

Before the current wave of crime, the gangsters were targeting passengers travelling on buses at night and robbing them of cash and mobile phones on the Kakamega-Kisumu and the Kisumu-Busia highways.

But their luck ran out after the bus firms tightened security checks in the vehicles and introduced police armed escorts.

The frequent attacks on villagers have brought into question the effectiveness of community policing in Kakamega Central and the neighbouring Kakamega East, South and North districts. What is puzzling police bosses is the reluctance by the public to volunteer information on suspected criminals.

In the latest attack, a gang of six men raided a bar at Musoli market in Ikolomani Division, Kakamega South District, and shot dead a trader. It robbed other patrons of cash and other valuables before fleeing.

The trader, Mr Moses Masinjila, was the Ford-K vice-chairman for the Ikolomani branch.

Earlier, the gang had raided the home of a Catholic priest in charge of the Itumbu Parish in Bukura and robbed him of his car and other valuables.

They also stole bottles of church wine and offertory.

They drove away with their loot in the cleric's vehicle, which was later recovered by police.

Investigations by the Daily Nation show that the gang has been making surprise attacks in villages and market centres, taking administration officials and law enforcers by surprise.

Mr Mwangi said that the pattern of attacks showed that the gang involved in the robberies was the same.

"We have intensified the intelligence gathering, and if we can get support from the public, our fight against crime would be a smooth one," he said.

Mr Mwangi said that although crime had shot up in July, police officers were confident of finding the culprits and restoring public confidence in the campaign to deal with criminal gangs.