Gangsters on the prowl in Kisumu

By Mangoa Mosota

Kisumu, Kenya: Armed gangsters have been terrorising Kisumu residents as insecurity escalates in the lakeside city.

There have been several carjackings, robberies and rapes across the town in the recent past. In the last one month, more than ten people have been carjacked and some killed.

The goons force their victims to reveal their Automated Teller Machines (ATM) pin numbers before withdrawing money from their accounts.

Others have been maimed and robbed of their valuables at gunpoint. Two women were carjacked in the posh Milimani and gang raped. No arrest has been made so far.

A banker, 31, was shot in the head and died minutes later last weekend at Gudka Estate. Mr Syanaslaus Ndeto was closing the gate after a gang tried to access the home of his friend.

“They shot him (Ndeto) in the head. He struggled to walk into the house before collapsing on the sofa,” said David Muturi, a friend of Ndeto who was forced to undress by the thugs. Muturi was beaten up and ordered to put his head in a water closet.

He said about 15 people had converged at a friend’s house to console him after he lost a child. Muturi said the gunshots outside the compound made those in the house to scale a wall with broken pieces of glasses at the top. Many were injured.

Birthday present

When The Standard visited Ndeto’s house in Migosi, his partner was distraught.

“I am devastated and do not understand why they took my husband’s life,” said Penninah Mutindi, 24.

Mutindi, who works in Mombasa, does not know how to inform their son, Raymond, about the death. “Ray keeps asking about his father and when he will buy a bicycle he promised him for his birthday,” she said.

On the same weekend, two women were gang-raped after being hijacked from Milimani at around 7.30pm. The gang withdrew money from their accounts after forcing them to reveal their PIN numbers.

The women were outside the gate of a friend when two men on a motorcycle attacked them. The thugs’ accomplices joined them and they forced the women into the boot of their car.

The victims were abandoned at Nyamasaria, about five kilometres away.

Nyanza PCIO Joseph Mugwanja said some suspects have been identified over the rape incident, and they are following crucial leads. He said no arrests have been made on Ndeto’s killers, but investigations are ongoing.

Related Topics

Kisumu insecurity