Nakuru County Commissioner Loyford Kibaara has assured the residents of their security following a spate of muggings and armed robberies by three criminal gangs in Rhonda and Kaptembwa area.
Kibaara, who regretted that three people had been killed in the weeklong terror instigated by the gangs, says a sweeping overhaul of security managers in the area is complete and the situation is contained.
The administrator told reporters in Nakuru that 302 gang members are in police custody and have been arraigned before the Nakuru Magistrate Court, with the Commissioner decrying lenient fines and sentences that continued to water down their efforts.
“Despite the lenient fines we will not condone regrouping and harassment of the residents. It is not going to be business as usual and the gangs should either change their ways or leave the area.
“A new OCS has been posted to Rhonda police station and we are pursuing to have a change of police officers who have overstayed in the area and are abating crimes,” he noted, adding that the Nyumba Kumi Clusters will be reactivated to enhance security.
He regretted that the infamous Confirmed, TZ, Mungiki and Mauki groups had held residents captive and paralyzed businesses. The arraignment , he said , continues alongside a mop up of suspected gang members in Nakuru North and Nakuru East Sub Counties .
“Young men between 18 and 25 years old are joining these groups and most of them are engaged in gambling, touting and taxi businesses. They have been extorting money for the residents, with those resisting being stabbed,” noted the Commissioner, putting on notice politicians said to be having a hand in the crimes.
County Police Commander Zachary Kimani while flagging out Ponda Mali, Nakuru West and Free Area, noted that more arrests had been made last night with the gang members found armed with kitchen knives and Somali swords.
“Our officers know the criminals and the more they have stayed in the area, the more they are likely to abate these crimes,” said Kimani.
Cases of stabbing and killings have in the recent past been reported, with members of the Mauki gang group said to be on a revenge mission in the wake of the mysterious murder of their leader
