Uproar in Kitengela town over crime upsurge
An aerial view of Kitengela town in Kajiado County. (inset) Mr John Obutu, one of the victims of the Kitengela gang attacks.
Residents of Kitengela in Kajiado East sub-County have raised the alarm over rising insecurity cases in the town over the past one month.
They said youthful gangs have taken over the town, brazenly committing armed robberies, muggings and burglaries.
At least four cases of muggings and seven armed robberies have been reported at the local police station in the past two weeks alone. Mr John Obutu,32, told Nation he suffered multiple injuries after he was attacked on his way home from work last Sunday night.
He said the less-than-two-minute ordeal at the hands of the ruthless gang left him nursing head, arms and leg injuries. He also lost all the money he had alongside other valuables.
"They hit me on the head before frisking my pockets while I lay on the ground writhing in pain. I was about to be stabbed when one of them pleaded with his colleagues to spare me," Mr Obutu said. The family of another male victim told Nation he is recuperating at a Nairobi hospital after he was stabbed during the robbery on Monday.
The gang is said to be operating within the town centre between 9pm and 2am. Some of the known gang members are said to be masquerading as touts in the Kitengela bus terminus during the day while others operate Tuk-tuks.
"Let the police intensify night patrols to dismantle the gangs before it's too late," Mr Joram Munge, a local who also operates a tuk tuk, told Nation.
Kitengela Directorate of Criminal Investigations Officer Joseph Ideke told Nation on Wednesday that plain-clothes officers have been deployed to dismantle the gang.
"We are monitoring some suspects. We will definitely catch up with them,” Mr Ideke said. Traders often close their businesses early fearing attacks.
