Panic in Kisii town as security officers raid boda boda offices

A contingent of security officers stormed the Kisii Town boda boda offices and marked it a crime scene on Friday, October 27.
A contingent of security officers stormed the offices of bodaboda in Kisii town and declared it a crime scene.
The raid by security officers, including officers drawn from the General Service Unit (GSU), on Friday came just two days after thousands of bodaboda riders formed a co-operative society.
They cordoned off the office, located behind the Kisii County Assembly, saying it had become a den for hooligans.
Kisii County Police Commander Charles Kases said they had secured the offices and investigations were underway into various alleged crimes.
"Officers from the DCI have taken over the offices. It is now a crime scene," Mr Kases said.
The Nation has established that some of the DCI officers are from Nairobi, while the GSU are from Trans Mara.
The officers began hunting down the boda boda riders on Thursday evening, a move that left residents of Kisii Town in shock and panic.
The crackdown came just two days after the launch of the Kisii Municipality Bodaboda Transport Co-operative Society.
The cooperative was issued with certificates duly signed by national government officials.
The event, which took place on Tuesday and was attended by over 6,000 bodaboda riders from Kisii Municipality, was graced by Governor Simba Arati.
Others who attended were top security officials led by Kisii Central Sub County Police Commander Mr Amos Ambasa.
The Nation understands that Mr Ambasa was transferred to Busia on Thursday under unclear circumstances.
Speaking to journalists after their office was raided, the boda boda riders demanded answers from the national government as to why the police took such a step.
Kisii Boda boda Association vice-chairperson Moses Ondieki said they were still in shock at the government's move.
"We woke up and came to our office as usual. Then the police stormed in and told us to leave. We have been trying to organise ourselves and every time we try to do so, someone interrupts us," said Mr Ondieki.
He said there had been recent complaints from Kisii residents about increased thuggery by a section of riders.
"To cure this, we as leaders came up with a solution. The solution was to organise ourselves into registered stages. Each of us was given an identification number, which we wrote on our new reflector jackets. The numbers matched our motorcycle number plates," said Mr Ondieki.
The boda boda leader wondered why anyone would want to disrupt such a noble exercise to organise the sector.
"We demand an answer. Our people have been beaten and injured by a group of thugs organised by a certain lawmaker to divide us. All we want is to be left alone to look after our families," said Mr Ondieki.
The boda boda sector of Kisii town has been in chaos for the past year, allegedly orchestrated by politicians.
Recently, however, the town has been quiet after the police arrested a man with several criminal cases against him, who is said to have been used by a section of politicians.
The man is in custody while his case continues.