Election may be bloodier than 2008, says report

By Juma Kwayera

Even as the Government attempts to downplay the surge in politically instigated crimes in the country, a document detailing activities of two gangs in western Kenya shows imminent danger.

 The reports points to the likelihood that the General Election will be bloodier than the last, unless steps are taken to forestall the eventuality.

A copy of a report on the current security situation in Kisumu city and the larger Lake Basin, already in the hands of the Minister for Internal Security Katoo ole Metito, suggests that western Kenya will be the vortex of political violence similar to what was witnessed in 2008 electoral violence over the contested presidential poll outcome.

The report linking provincial and district security teams in Nyanza bears striking similarities in detail with the ministerial statement Mr Metito read in Parliament on Thursday – complete with names and activities of individuals accused of fanning mayhem in the lakeside town.

The two gangs, ‘China 32 Brothers’ and ‘US’ alias ‘American ‘Marines’ are currently involved in atrocious turf wars with high degree collateral damage in the form of property and human life. Caught between the gangs are security agencies, which according to Kisumu West MP Olago Oluoch, benefit from proceeds of crime.

The report maps operation areas of the two gangs as Kisumu bus-park and the area around Tuskys Mall on the Kisumu-Kakamega roads as flashpoints. Metito’s ministerial statement, demanded last week by Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabir, said as much.

The gang leaders according to the report have even in the past “physically assaulted police officers and no action was ever taken against them. Such has been their invincibility.”

Another case is that of alias Paulo who in June forcibly ejected the legally registered Nyahera Route 22 Sacco from business. Not even the Kisumu Town Clerk, Mayor, DC, PC or the Nyanza Provincial Police Officer had the guts to acknowledge receipt of a letter of complaint from members of the Sacco.

Former PPO Njue Njagi, according to Olago’s supplementary question in Parliament, is on record explaining police inertia as precipitated by influential politicians.

The China 32 Group, according to Metito’s ministerial statement and the one in our possession consists of children of retired criminal gang leaders. The document notes that the China Group, at one time part of US Marines, “was formed by the moneyed sons of equally moneyed parents who made fortunes in unclear circumstances. They are hell-bent on making a fortune using whatever means – legal or otherwise!”

The document further notes that, although members of the gang lead flashy lives, their sources of income cannot plausibly be explained.

“Their main business at the bus-park has been collecting money from PSV operators because they are owners of the bus-park, route owners, or so they claim! They have no tangible businesses.

A few of them may own PSVs (suspected to have been bought with) this ill-gotten money. In brief, theirs is pure extortion like Mungiki in Central Kenya. This is replicated at all pick-up points within Kisumu – Kamas, Ghuba, Yellow-line, Kicomi, Kachok, Kibuye, Tuskys, Kondele, Carwash and KCC,” it says.

In adds that the death of the criminal gangs – ‘Baghdad’ (now ‘Baghdad for Peace’), ‘Taliban’ and others – resulted in the birth of two main gangs: ‘Wash-Wash’ and ‘America’ (aka ‘US’).

On Wednesday, National Steering Committee on Media Monitoring spokesperson, Ms Mary Ombara disclosed that police were following leads that two militia groups have political agenda. This was after one of the group, US Marines, raided a police station to free their member.

In his statement, Metito names China gang leaders as Willis Ochieng “Boyi s/o Akoth”, “Boyi” s/o Nyawasi, ‘Mugoya’ and ‘Baby’. The names tally with the ones in the document in our possession, which adds that gang leaders enjoy protection from senior police officers.

Concerns about the protection of these politically connected criminals were raised in Parliament by newly elected Ndhiwa MP Agostino Neto and Nominated MP Millie Odhiambo-Mabona, who alleged the officers are retained by the gang.

It goes on to say that ‘Boyi s/o Nyawasi’, once a long distance truck driver is involved in selling stolen vehicles “usually at border towns where he made sufficient contacts” when he was a truck driver.

With regard to the US Marines, the report says it has been operating from Kisumu bus-park and with impunity.

“You cannot do anything at the bus-park without their permission. Every PSV must pay predetermined ‘fees’ before picking passengers. Even the City Council cannot put up any structure at the bus-park without their permission,” the report says.

The bus-park gang is allegedly led by one Mr Adui Nyang – apparently a pseudonym – who is alleged to have grabbed a Kisumu City Council building and converted it into a personal office for which he does not pay the civic authorities as required by law.

Even when the council recently attempted to evict him, he together with another gang member, one Omollo ferried in lorry-loads of goons armed with crude weapons that chased away everybody from the bus-park, including the council officers.

The document concludes that the two gangs are sympathetic to leading political parties. It feared that the gangs’ current sparring is a build up to pre-planned elections violence in the region as MPs from Nyanza argued on Thursday.