Police on the spot as mobs reign in Kenyan slums

The emergence of illegal vigilante groups in the slums has been blamed on failure by police to fight crime .

Security experts say that though the extra-legal security groups have been outlawed, weak policing capacity by the country’s security agencies has created a vacuum that the gangs are taking advantage of.

Three people were seriously injured in Mathare C last week when two rival vigilante groups clashed accusing each other of committing crimes. 

Residents of Mathare told Nation that they were resorting to the vigilante groups due to the government’s inability to play its primary role of providing them with security.
They said some groups have been formed due to landlord-tenant disputes that date back to the post-election violence period.

Some house owners have been forced to live as squatters while others have not been paid rent for years.

The Waki Report on 2007 post-election said the violence was characterised by forceful displacement and evictions while areas such as Dandora and Mathare North.

Since then, there has been an unhealthy landlord-tenant relationships, especially in Kibera.

But police have vowed to wipe out such groups in Nairobi slums, and warned of stern action against anyone found engaging in criminal acts.

About 62 suspects were arrested on Tuesday night in Mathare slums following a police operation to flash out members of the outlawed groups.

Nairobi Deputy provincial police boss Moses Ombati said that they would sustain the operation until the gangs are completely eliminated in the informal settlements.

Fight crime

Deputy Police spokesman Charles Owino also said that they will work closely with the community in the fight against crime.
“Information remains the single most effective tool in fighting crime,” Mr Owino said.

Following the recent incidents, Mr Owino said police had intensified their intelligence collection on the illegal groups. “We will not wait until the situation gets out of hand,” he said.

The Prevention of Organised Crime Act came into force in September this year.

It provides for stiffer penalty of a jail term of 15 years or a fine of up to five million shillings or both, for those found guilty of being members of the banned groups.

The government unveiled a list of 33 outlawed criminal gangs last year.