Gangs hired by State to silence protesters now target everyone

Major towns across the country, including the capital, Nairobi, have been struck by gang-related violence.  A foreign force roams free within Kenya’s borders.

This surge in insecurity has placed the government under immense scrutiny, as questions swirl about its capacity to protect citizens, a function at the core of why governments exist.

For the umpteenth time since he was made Interior Cabinet Secretary last December, Kipchumba Murkomen has the spotlight on him.

Shockingly, Murkomen admitted knowledge of goons attached to politicians.

“Nearly every politician in this country, right from MCAs, has goons. When they are not on duty at the behest of politicians, they engage in other crimes like animal theft,” he said during Jukwaa la Usalama in the western region.

Obvious complacency

The National Police Service, too, finds itself seeking justifications for its obvious complacency, which has resulted in the growing insecurity, evidenced by the harrowing recollections of victims of marauding gangs shared on social media platforms.

The police’s response to muggings in Nairobi has been the customary reactionary one offered whenever such incidents erupt. Many have criticised the police for allegedly harassing Nairobi residents going about their business instead of tackling actual criminals.

The writing had always been on the wall. Condoning gang violence, as the State has appeared to do against dissenters since last year, was bound to boomerang on President William Ruto’s administration.

The gangs that State actors had relied on to bully youthful protesters and Opposition figures appear to have come back to bite.

Until recently, they had thrived where crowds gathered, taking advantage of disruptions caused by demonstrations to pounce. With demonstrations now fewer, the gangs have learnt that they can create their own chaos. They roam the streets on motorcycles, hardly concealing the crude weapons they often bear, such as clubs, machetes, and knives.

And the culture is slowly being passed on to the younger generation, as seen in the emergence of teen gangs across the country.

Slightly over a fortnight ago, as former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua returned from the US, some of them barricaded Mombasa Road, terrorising motorists and pedestrians.

Journalists, including those from Standard Group, were injured and robbed in the melee.

Witnesses said the goons were brought there and paid before unleashing their terror, much as is the case whenever they are involved in politics.

Gachagua is no stranger to the thugs, who consistently disrupt his political engagements.

For several months now, the gangs have been emboldened by politicians, who lure them with cash and crude weapons, and by the police, who turn a blind eye to their macabre activities, often marching alongside them.

That was the case during the Gen Z protests, when State-linked goons attacked protesting youth.

Despite publicising their activities on social media platforms, these criminals have suffered no consequences—an unmistakable sign that they were working in cahoots with State actors.

Many of them, such as the Hawks, Bomb, Gaza, and Mlima gangs, pledge their loyalty to politicians.

As politicians encouraged them, concerns grew that these gangs would become unmanageable when political dirty jobs were slow in coming.

“Right now, we have politicians feeding them. What happens when they stop? They will look for sustenance elsewhere, and we will see a surge in crime,” security analyst George Musamali said in a previous interview.

Embakasi Central MP Benjamin Gathiru, alias Mejja Donk, argued that warnings like Musamali’s had started to manifest, as goons seek to survive.

“When the government doesn’t give them work, they resort to stealing from the public, and that is what you saw in Nairobi. The worst thing about the goons is that they are not loyal to anyone. It is whoever pays them well,” said the MP, who argued that the gangs had been emboldened by the fact that they enjoyed some element of State backing.

Contrary opinion

‘‘You have seen them in all areas. Any politician who holds a different opinion, a contrary opinion to the one that is being held by the government, is attacked by the goons. The government should stop giving them security to go and disrupt political meetings or peaceful protests because when there are no activities, they turn against the public and the same government,” added Gathiru.

Mukuruwe-ini MP John Kaguchia concurred, saying: “Because there is a soft endorsement from the President, every politician is now engaging goons.”
“Unfortunately, the police are being used to perpetrate this criminality,” said Kaguchia.

On Friday, it emerged that some unregistered boda bodas are being used to carry out robberies and criminal activities within Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD).

This emerged during a meeting called by the association of boda boda riders operating within Nairobi’s CBD, in connection with the rising cases of muggings that have been widely reported.

“Motorbikes that are not registered or not in the Saccos are the ones that are being used to carry out robbery activities in the city centre,” said Patrick Muasya, the chairman of 047 Boda Boda Sacco.

On the wrong

Adding: “Going forward, we will ensure that all riders are registered so that when someone is caught on the wrong side, it is easy to get their details.”
To tame the vice, they appealed to the county and national governments to get rid of riders who operate in undesignated areas.

On Saturday, at least 280 people were arrested in Nairobi in connection with criminal activities.
This comes after public outcry over rising cases of muggings within Nairobi’s Central Business District, where victims claimed to have lost valuables to knife-wielding gangs.

Nairobi Central Police Sub-County Commander Phillemon Nyamboko said following intense operations, police had been successful and would not stop until the city centre is safe.

The number of suspects who were arrested now stands at 280. We arrested about 50 on Friday night and they have been booked awaiting arraignment,” he said.

Some of the suspects were arrested with items believed to have been stolen at matatu stages and crowded areas within the CBD.

Murkomen has also cautioned politicians against politicising national security issues.

Speaking on Friday in Kakamega during the Jukwaa la Usalama forum, Murkomen directed a crackdown on gang leaders, political goons, land fraud cartels, and illicit alcohol networks across the western region.

“We are spending a lot of resources and personnel in dealing with political goons in Western Kenya when we have other regions and parts of Kenya that need security, and therefore we are going to deal with the paymasters of the goons, and it is going to be painful,” he said.

The CS said the government is alarmed by the rise of political violence in the region, where funerals and political rallies have increasingly been turned into battlefields.

He cited the recent burial of a chief in Matungu, Kakamega County, where goons disrupted the ceremony, clashed violently, and left mourners in fear.

In Nairobi, Regional Commander George Seda said enough officers had been deployed to ensure that the city is safe.

“Several people have been arrested so far and there is an ongoing operation to ensure that the city is safe,” he stated.

Some hotspots, according to victims, include Kenya National Archives, Kenyatta Avenue, and the junction of Moi Avenue and Mama Ngina Street.

Another hotspot where passengers lose their phones in the evening is the Railways–Moi Avenue junction, along with sections of River Road and Landhies Road around Machakos Country Bus.

Victims reported being ambushed by gangs along Parliament Road and noted that poorly lit areas such as Kimathi and Biashara streets allow gangs to hide in dark alleys.

Outfits supported by politicians have morphed into criminal gangs, a development that security experts warn could overwhelm State security agencies.
Kenya is no stranger to this possibility.

The Mungiki sect, previously supported by politicians, took on a life of its own and established structures.

It took decades of police operations to uproot some of these systems, but remnants of the sect still have a foothold in critical sectors such as transport, where they are notorious for extortion.

“Soon, landlords will lose their property to goons. Those living in estates will lose control to the goons. We were once here as a country, and it took us so much effort to get out of it,” said Kaguchia.

The current crop of goons first emerged during last year’s youth-led protests and has remained active in the political scene. So daring have they become that they often show up at presidential functions, as they did when President Ruto toured Nairobi in March.

The five-day tour was characterised by brazen thieves swarming vehicles, snatching valuables from passengers in broad daylight, witnessed in areas along Thika Superhighway and Jogoo Road, among others.

Such scenes were replicated in June, when hundreds of goons believed to have been bankrolled infiltrated a peaceful protest in Nairobi armed with knives and clubs.

Police watched

The goons terrorised protesters and other Kenyans going about their business as police officers egged them on.

The crooks, brought in on motorbikes, robbed people and struck them with clubs as the police watched.

Politicians have long used goons to fight rivals. They are especially notorious for disrupting functions such as funerals.

“The trend is dangerous to the nation because once the election is over the youths resort to criminal activities or form dangerous gangs to continue surviving as they wait for another election cycle,” said security analyst Haggai Chogo.

“If nothing is done to control the trend, gangs can morph into dangerous outfits that will be hard to control, even by those politicians who are misusing them.’’

Additional reporting by Benard Lusigi and Mary Imenza