Caught in the middle of Kisumu gang fight

By George Orido

I was in Kisumu at The Mall along Kenyatta Avenue taking coffee with friends one night around 8pm when I came face to face with members of   Kisumu’s most feared gangs.

As we continued to enjoy our coffee, a section of China members spotted us and came to greet us. In the distance some members of the American Marines were chatting on their phone as others ?led into a nearby bar.

We decided to leave as tension grew. But as we approached our car we realised that some four men were enjoying their beer right on the bonnet of the car. They were members of the China Squad.

We took a strategic retreat to monitor the situation. The members, including the gang leader, approached a brand new Toyota car and broke one of the side mirrors.

They went ahead to de?ate the hind tyre. The car seemed to belong to a member of the rival gang, the American Marines. Then hell broke loose.

When the owner, Mr Jack Ojwang’, discovered what had happened to his car, he started asking but before he could ?nish his question he was told to his face that they (China) were responsible.

“You can do whatever you want,” they taunted him.

Afer the verbal exchange a ?erce ?ght ensued. The whole shopping mall was brought to a standstill as members of the public rushed to see what was going on.

Others feared for their lives but it was too dangerous to drive out.

In a few minutes, the whole place was closed as police rushed in to quell a street ?ght that was about to spread to the adjacent businesses.

The owner of the bar was furious but helpless as his customers left their seats running for cover. Police shot in the air to quell the ?ght.

In the end, two of China Squad members were arrested and taken to the Kisumu

Central Police cells amid tight security. One would compare the drama to the infamous gang ?ghts in New York, among Brooklyn groups such as the Rockstarz and the Very Crispy Gangsters. Tragically, it was in the same venue in

September that a ?ght broke out where one of the so-called American Marines was assaulted, giving rise to a wave of violence and destruction of property belonging to both gangs.Some lives were lost. This was then the beginning of escalation of animosity between the two groups.