Man shot as crime soars in towns

• Residents concerned at latest attack in a series that has hit area in a month

A man is fighting for his life after being shot during a gang raid on his house, a pointer that insecurity has soared in several parts of western Kenya.

The man was admitted to Bungoma District Hospital in a critical condition after the attack at Molo area in Webuye Town.

Angry residents demanded that the government guarantee their security claiming that there had been several attacks.

Webuye district officer David Mbevi said police were investigating the attack and that no one had been arrested.

Last week, six guards at Pan Paper Mills were seriously injured by a gang that tried to break into the factory. They are still at Webuye District Hospital where they were admitted after the attack.

Police arrested a man they said was a wanted criminal as he tried to break into a house. He is said to have been armed with a home-made gun.

And several secondary schools in the area were attacked and two watchmen killed while one is still in hospital.

Area MP Alfred Sambu led wananchi in condemning the attacks and asked police to beef up security.

District commissioner John Litunda said police officers had intensified night patrols.

In Migori, a trader has been abducted.

Mr Erastus Barasa was picked up outside a shop and bundled into a waiting car by smartly dressed men.

When worried family members called his phone, the abductors answered and said they had “an issue” with Mr Barasa.

“They allowed me to speak to my brother… he told me that both his hands were tied and he was blindfolded. He did not know where they were although I could hear the sound of a moving vehicle,” said Mr Victor Ouya.

He said the abductors claimed they had been sent to kill Mr Barasa.

Police shot dead a man they said was a wanted gangster at Koyango, Manyatta in Kisumu Town.The 27 year-old-man is alleged to be the leader of a gang that has been harassing area residents.

Acting on a tip off, police traced the man to his house and killed him when he shot at them with a home-made gun.

Several electronic goods suspected to have been stolen and several home-made guns were found in his house.

Separately, a 20-year-old man on a fishing expedition fell from a motorboat and drowned in Uyomba beach, Kisumu.

The rest of the boat’s crew tried and failed to rescue him. Police said they were investigating the incident.

Reported by Erick Ngobilo, Elisha Otieno, and Lilian Ochieng