Political gangs on the radar of Migori police as campaigns heat up
Part of Migori town.
The Migori security committee is on the trail of 10 political gangs blamed for a spate of violence witnessed across the county ahead of the August polls.
County Commissioner Mr Meru Mwangi said they had singled out 10 gangs and their leadership for fanning violence in the past and were “closely monitoring their moves since they have been fueling violence in the past.”
Already, there are heightened political temperatures in the county with aspirants openly trading barbs in rallies, a move that risks to further polarise an already volatile situation.
Mr Mwangi noted that security agencies had gathered enough intelligence after the county was listed among political violence hotspot counties by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission amidst fears of violent waves.
Last year, teargas canisters were lobbed at three separate functions in Migori town by unknown people.
The latest attack occurred in February when the home of governor aspirant Robert Okong’o’s parents was set ablaze by arsonists, in what has raised jitters among aspirants.
“We have identified the gangs, their leaders and their financiers. We are closely monitoring their moves and will act accordingly should there be any form of unrest. We will deal with them as criminals,” Mr Mwangi said.
“We are determined to ward off this notion that the county is a violence hotspot and we have taken a multi-agency approach to achieve this,” he said.
Families organising funerals
Some of the measures in place include strategically placing security officers in plain clothes in events to help arrest culprits, ensuring police account for guns, bullets and tear gas canisters after operations and families organising funerals to alert police beforehand to avoid security breaches.
“Going forward, all families organising funerals which may be charged should alert us in time to offer protection,” Suna East police boss Esau Ochorokodi said.
The two who spoke at a Migori hotel during a peace meeting involving political aspirants, security officers, party officials and political activists noted that they will also monitor youths who are often hired to offer security to politicians in social functions.
The meeting was organised by USAID and International Alert to foster peace in the county ahead of the August polls.
The NCIC commissioner Mr Philip Okundi said politicians should ensure they conduct their rallies peacefully and only let voters decide the outcome.
“As a country, we are tired of always seeing cycles of violence in election time. We need to stop violence and the only way is engaging stakeholders and ensuring trigger points are dealt with on time,” Mr Okundi said.
Mr Charles Odero, an MCA aspirant from Wasweta 2 ward said they were shocked that teargas canisters, which are only assigned to police officers, were lobbed thrice and nothing was done.
He said they were afraid that politicians may be arming gangs.
“Sometimes even attending funerals is hard for fear of insecurity. Some politicians have been forced to hire youths to shield them of rivals which might escalate ahead of next polls,” Mr Odero said.
