Living in terror

A wave of crime has hit the country’s capital in the last few months, despite a heavy police presence. Given past trends, it may be observed that the criminals seem to be launching their activities in a given pattern.
Between 2000 and 2002, crime was rampant in the northern suburbs of Kahawa Sukari, along Thika Road. About 10 murders and a couple of violent robberies were recorded. Consequently, the rising insecurity prompted the residents to move to other estates, which were considered more secure.
This trend has now been shifted to the once known peaceful and pristine suburbs of Ngong and Ongata Rongai in Kajiado District. Crime rate has been soaring in these areas following the acquisition of plots by prominent personalities. According to police sources, the crime patterns in the plush suburbs of Rongai,Ngong and partly Kiserian,are organized, with the killers targeting rich people. Most of the time the thugs only take away mobile phones and wallets, whose value is meager. The stealing of the mobile phones is justified to be an act of crippling the victims so that they don’t call the police.
Like in Kahawa Sukari, the increase in insecurity in Ngong, Karen and Rongai has left many residents in the areas in so much terror, forcing them to flee from their large and beautiful Mansions for relatively smaller houses in more secure environments.
Ms Amy Edward, a resident from Ololua in Ngong, where most of the killer gangs are attacking says “It has become a daily affair to hear alarms sounding almost every other day from different directions leaving me to wonder which neighbour is being robbed if not killed. “I thank my almighty maker everyday I get home before dusk falls, for the gangs attack as early as 7.00pm”, she adds.
According to police records, thugs in Ngong hardly ever break doors. Mostly they way lay their victims at the gate. The recent killings of businessman Livingstone Ole Naimasia and trainee lawyer Elijah Sempeta are cases in point, as they wereboth way laid at their gates and killed at around 8.00pm.
Mama Mitchelle, as she is known to the residents of Ngong narrates of how she and her family had a narrow escape from the killers.”I was on my way to the latrine when all of a sudden two men, a short one and a tall one jumped from behind the garage. I quickly turned and started running towards the house. Unfortunately they caught up with me before I could enter the house. Following the commotion my husband came outside. Suddenly one of the thugs attacked my husband hitting him on the head. The other thug threw a very sharp machete towards me, which I held with my hands sustaining a very deep cut on my thumb. My screams attracted the neighbours, who came to my rescue, forcing the thugs to flee”.

While the residents claim that the killings in Ngong are interconnected since the gang is made of two men – one short and the other tall, police do not buy this theory. This is because the presence of the two man gang notwithstanding, Naimasiah was killed by a four man gang, lending credence to police assertions that the serial killers might be of different groups.
Even so, police attribute most of the robberies to inside jobs, involving collusion between house-helps, security guards and the thugs. For this reason, they warn that residents should obtain detailed information of the workers they employ.

They also hold the view that new urban settlements like Ngong, Rongai, Ruai and Kahawa Sukari are prone to thuggery because the houses are secluded, making it difficult to patrol the areas effectively.
Meanwhile, several measures have been put in place while others are yet to be effected to address the situation. Community policing is now a priority, with the residents being involved in the fight against crime.