More police sent to tame coast gangs

Inspector of Police Joseph Boinet (left) looks on as Interior and National Coordination Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi (right) address journalists at the Coast Regional Co-ordinator's Uhuru na Kazi building, January 08, 2019. Matiang'i said police had started a crack down in Kisauni and Likoni against some of the terror groups who are terorrising members of the public. [PHOTO: GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

A manhunt has been launched for 12 suspects who attacked two chiefs and the police in Kilifi.

The attack was linked to a ban on funeral night vigils popularly known as disco matanga at the Coast region. The government has ordered an end to vigils past 11pm, drawing resistance from youths.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i said more police officers have been deployed to track down the suspects who attacked and injured the chief, his assistant chief and four police officers last weekend.

Yesterday Dr Matiang'i said the Government would not relent in its fight against disco matanga which he blamed for early pregnancies and narcotic trade in the Coast region.

“In one county, there are over 13,000 cases of early pregnancies. These girls get these pregnancies during these discos,” said Matiang'i after a regional security meeting in Mombasa.

He said the Government and local political leaders have agreed to ban the discos which have also been linked to insecurity and crime.

Matiang'i, who was accompanied by the Inspector General Joseph Boinet, also announced that an operation has been launched at Mombasa’s Kisauni area to eliminate knife wielding youth gangs.

“At Kisauni we have mapped out crime prone areas and currently an operation is going on to flush out these criminal elements,” said Matiang'i.

He also said that a special security team has been deployed in Kwale to combat a criminal group behind the rising cases of robbery of Mpesa shops.

The CS, who held a regional security meeting with County Police Commanders and County Commissioners from the six counties at the Coast, identified the killing of the elders, low school enrollment and disco matanga as the biggest security challenges at the Coast.

“We have intensified efforts to stop the killing of elderly. Some of these killings are related to land disputes in families,” said Matiang'i.

The CS also directed chiefs and assistant chiefs to start an operation to aid the Education ministry's efforts to enroll students in secondary schools.

But the CS refused to comment on the search for Silvia Romano, the Italian aid worker who was kidnapped on November 20 last year claiming it was an ongoing operation.

Police sources, however, told the standard that security personnel have scaled down the search because they believe that the Italian may have been taken across the border to Somalia.