Kerugoya turning into ghost town as gang takes control

Kerugoya house set on fire by criminals who killed the owner. The town residents are living in fear of a gang which has murdered several people, raided homes and destroyed property. Photo/GEORGE MUNENE

What you need to know:

  • Business owners and some residents have taken off as killings escalate in the area

Business people are fleeing Kerugoya Town in droves following a spate of gang killings in the past few months. Women have especially been targets of the terror gang.

Already five traders have sold their property and left, vowing never to return. The rate at which traders are leaving is alarming, according to Mr John Kabui, the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman.

“I know five prominent business people who have left, and if this continues Kerugoya, the Kirinyaga Central district headquarters, will be a ghost town,” he warned one Madaraka Day last week.

One woman who fled said she had received several death threats from anonymous people.

Speaking from her hideout, Ms Grace Njeri said a person she suspected to be a member of the terror gang sent her text messages threatening to behead her.

“I had to abandon my home and seek refuge elsewhere,” added the 40-year-old woman.

The gangsters stalk their victims, kill them and retreat to their base without stealing anything, raising suspicion that they could be members of a cult.

“This gang could be members of a cult that offers human sacrifice,” says Mr Gachoki Gitari.

The gang also rapes women and young girls. Since November, last year, more than 15 people, among them five women and a pastor, have been killed. Four were slain in the past three weeks.

Now the residents, including traders civil servants and church leaders, are living in fear and hardly concentrate on their businesses.

Local religious and political leaders accuse the police of failing to protect the people. They describe the district as one of the most dangerous in Kenya.

“This is a rotten, insecure place to live in and invest,” former area MP Daniel Karaba says. He blames the killings on police, saying that the law enforcers are sleeping on the job.

Democratic Party chairman Mureithi Kang’ara warns that the residents will be forced to take up arms to defend themselves if urgent measures are not taken to tame the criminals. And the religious leaders are seeking divine intervention.

The latest victims are Pastor James Wanjao, 40, of the Kenya Assemblies of God, prominent businesswoman Joyce Njeri, 50, and Local Government senior official Ann Thanje, 38. Pastor Wanjao was killed on May 29 and his body dumped on the banks of Kathigaini stream at Gakoigo village.

He was walking home after attending a security meeting at a neighbour’s home when he was struck on the head with a blunt object.

The meeting had been called after several attempts to raid his home by the gang. His body was traced by neighbours and family members who were carrying out a search after he failed to return home.

Nothing was stolen from him during the attack which triggered off protests from religious and political leaders.

The meeting sought to make arrangements of how the residents would start patrolling the area in shifts.

Ms Njeri was found dead in her bungalow at Gakoigo village, 2km from Kerugoya Town. The gangsters raided the home on May 21 and raped her before killing her. They did not steal anything.

Gang-raped

And on May 11, an estate was thrown into mourning when the residents found a market superintendent dead.

She was slashed to death as she slept in her house at Kamukunji estate in Kerugoya Town.

Her eight-year-old daughter was also gang-defiled and left for dead. The gangsters set the house on fire and destroyed property worth hundreds of thousands of shillings before escaping.

The criminals entered the house using a master key and found her and her daughter asleep. They repeatedly slashed the woman until she died and threw the body under the bed. They then turned on her Standard Three daughter and defiled her.

After they were through with their evil mission, the raiders set the house on fire and left it firmly locked. However, the girl screamed, attracting neighbours who forced their way into the burning house and rescued her.

Like in all the other cases, the raiders did not steal anything during the 4.30am attack. The incident happened just a few metres from the local police station, putting police on the spot.

Sometimes the gang attacks during the day. For instance, on May 30, they attacked a matatu and shot dead a passenger, while the driver, Mr Robert Munene, suffered head injuries and was admitted to hospital in a critical condition.

District commissioner Patrick Muli admits that the security situation is bad and that everyone here is worried. He pleads with the residents to cooperate with the police in the fight against crime.

Mysterious

Mr Muli describes the killings as “mysterious”, arguing that even the residents do not understand what has caused the situation.

“What is shocking is that the victims are found dead in their houses and no signs of breaking into them,” he says.

“Property belonging to the victims is also found intact.”

Area head of police Patrick Oduma believes that the killers’ days are numbered. “We are going to smoke the gangsters out and deal with them according to the law,” he pledges.

Flying Squad police officers have been deployed to hunt down the gangsters.

At the same time, police on night patrols have caused an undeclared curfew in the area. As soon as the sun sets, the residents dash home.

By 10pm, all streets are usually deserted. Loud music in bars goes off and suddenly there is dead silence.

A stranger would be tempted to think that a curfew has been imposed in the town.