Likuyani residents decry deteriorating insecurity
Kakamega Governor Fernandes Barasa.
Residents of Likuyani, Kakamega County, are living in fear after a spate of attacks in which at least five people have been killed.
On September 24, 2022, a gang raided shops at the Kongoni trading centre and stole property and an unknown amount of cash.
The gangsters broke windows and doors and looted cash, food products, computers, printers, airtime cards, phones and other valuables.
The Likuyani council of elders now wants security agencies to investigate the attacks.
The elders, who spoke on Wednesday, said nights had become dangerous residents.
“People are living in fear because they don’t know what will happen next when night time falls,” said their secretary-general Cyprian Shisanya.
“Criminals are causing havoc without being spotted by the police. They are using night hours to harass, maim and rob innocent citizens. Something needs to be done urgently.”
The elders, who are retired senior officers in teaching, law, security and other disciplines, want the police to beef up security and intensify night patrols.
Make use of elders
He said elders “can be used to direct and assist the police on matters of security to reduce crime because we have vast experience in various professions”.
In another incident, a 90-year-old woman from Makokha village in Kongoni location was allegedly murdered under unclear circumstances and her body dumped in a water well.
Ms Julia Isiche, who lived with her granddaughter, went out for the call of nature on the night of September 24 and did not return to the house.
When her granddaughter woke up to prepare for school, she discovered that the door had been locked from outside. She called a neighbour to open the door for her.
The body of Ms Isiche was discovered the following morning dumped in the well.
Likuyani sub-county Police Commander Charles Muthui said the case was treated as a drowning.
“The body did not have any physical injury. We are waiting for a post mortem to reveal what killed her,” Mr Muthui said.
In Sango sub-location, the body of 16-year-old Catherine Nasimiyu was retrieved from the Kipsangui stream in February.
Mr Moses Wamalwa, a family member, said the girl had left her home on Christmas Day but did not return.
The body of the girl, who had just sat her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam, was discovered floating in the stream.
This came five days after 13-yearold Lucy Wanjiru, a Grade Six pupil at Moi’s Bridge Township primary school, was defiled and brutally murdered before her body was dumped on the side of a road.
