Criminal minds: Mafia-like thugs invade Nakuru town

A wave of crime involving gangs of unemployed youth and school dropouts has hit parts of Nakuru town. Their raids have transformed the once world-famous home of flamingos that was President Jomo Kenyatta’s second home, into a den of thieves.

Detectives say the crooks who work for organised and specialised cartels belong to a gang estimated to have more than 3,000 youth, with the number rising daily owing to continuous recruitment in the town’s impoverished and congested estates.

Going by the latest police crime records, the gangs mainly target mobile phone users, money transfer operations, posh residential estates, besides waylaying residents along the town’s main roads. They snatch purses and phones, while others have been enlisted as informers for armed robbers. Those who steal take the loot to their mentors who reward them for the successful ‘missions.’

Nakuru Police Commander, Hassan Barua, said the criminals belong to a group identified as ‘Confirmed,’ whose membership is drawn from Flamingo, Kivumbini and Langa Langa estates.

“It’s made up of very young and smartly dressed youth, who mainly stay indoors during the day. Others will be found in strategic places along main roads. We have been unable to apprehend them on several occasions, because they use other gang members as sentries,” admitted the police commander.

During a two-week long investigation by The Nairobian, we encountered several youth relaxing inside makeshift structures constructed along the main roads and behind houses, busy chewing miraa and smoking. Other young men routinely dart into the structures to purchase several items, before leaving in haste.

“Be careful because they can also harm you. These are people who have no respect for the law and are ready to do anything. They have killed before and police did nothing,” warned a shaken Kivumbini resident.

In previous raids carried out in criminal hideouts, police officers recovered brand new machetes, bhang, SIM cards, used mobile phone airtime vouchers, a mobile phone and stolen national identity cards used to register new lines.

Recently, police unearthed a criminal cartel operating in the Kivumbini area that targets residents walking on major roads at night. According to police, victims are confronted by thugs in hoodies and scarves over their faces on an open field at the back of the estate.

“People do not sleep peacefully because of fear of night robberies. But the saddest part is that victims report these crimes but we feel police are not dealing with our concerns adequately,” said Maina (not his real name).

One of the victims (name withheld for his security) said he was coming from work at around 3am when criminals on a motorcycle attacked him.

The 28-year-old said the gang knocked him down, before attacking him with crude weapons, leaving him on the road in Kivumbini estate.

“The gang took my mobile phone and Sh800 and threatened to kill me if I called for help,” said the man whose body was swollen with blood oozing from deep cuts in his face, head and arms.

Another victim, *Washington, who stays at Kaptembwo estate was heading to his cousin’s house a few metres from his father’s house at around 8pm when he was attacked.

He said that a group of young men, one of whom he identified as a neighbour, confronted him and slashed his ear.

Following an outcry from residents, security officers in Nakuru moved to the densely populated Kivumbini neighbourhood in search of weapons and the criminal gang that uses mobile phones to fleece money from unsuspecting residents.

According to police and local leaders, the gang is the brainchild of a syndicate of crooks who recruit destitute youth and train them to send text messages that seem to originate from a leading telecommunications company.

The targeted victim is then called by someone pretending to have sent money to a wrong number. They go ahead to plead with the victim to send back part of the cash but retain a little because of his or her kindness.

*Peter who has fallen victim to the scam, says the caller sounded genuine and desperate which compelled him to send back the money.

“A stranger called me in December claiming he had mistakenly sent me some money. Without checking my M-Pesa balance, I sent him Sh1,200 back, only to realise later that I had parted with my own money,” he narrated.

According to residents, many of the crooks are Form Four leavers, while others are university graduates who are trained in secluded rooms by ‘experts’ from Nairobi.

Security Research and Information Center (SRIC) survey reported that Bondeni slum in Nakuru is the most unsafe place in Kenya with 60 per cent crime rate because of organised criminal gangs. It is followed by Mishomoroni slum in Mombasa at 44 per cent, while Kibera was listed third with 40 per cent.