BUNGOMA KILLINGS: What now?...Tana River Delta smoke hasn't disappered!

[Kabaridi]

By Bryan Tumwa

Bungoma, Kenya: There is renewed tension in Bungoma town after a gang struck on Wednesday night killing one person and injuring ten others just days after six people were killed in the region.

Residents demonstrated in the wake of the attacks as police remain clueless with not a single arrest having been made so far.
A businessman in the town is the latest victim in attacks carried out at Mashambani and Wing estates. By 10:00 pm on Thursday, ten people had been admitted at Bungoma District Hospital with critical injuries.

Meanwhile, a Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) official who implicated politicians in the Bungoma Killings claims that his life is in danger.

Bungoma South KNUT Executive Secretary Fredrick Shichanga claimed that his decision to publicly declare that politicians in the area were behind the attacks that left six people dead and scores others including children injured have put him in trouble.
Shichanga cried foul to the media Wednesday as detectives investigating the incident interrogated former Bumula MP Bifwoli Wakoli who surrendered himself at the local CID offices on Thursday.

Mr. Wakoli who was accompanied by his wife, former MP John Munyasia and a handful of his supporters was grilled for close to four hours by CID Boss Heren Agolla and his deputy Debedi Maina.

Standard Digital News - Mobile Site | Kenya :: Bungoma residents protest as gang strikes again

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

The ugly truth about Bungoma attacks

Friends and relatives at the home of Mr Timothy Nyongesa, a businessman killed by a gang that raided his home in Bungoma Town on Wednesday night. The gang also injured his wife. Bungoma County has experienced cases of insecurity in the recent two weeks where six people have been killed and over 50 injured. JARED NYATAYA/NATION NATION

By ERICK NGOBILO engobilo@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Friday, May 10 2013 at 18:25

In Summary

• Former Bumula MP Bifwoli Wakoli and Bungoma Senator Moses Wetang'ula's brother Fred Wetang'ula, who have been linked to the attacks, have asked Ms Wanyonyi to tell the police what she knows.

Recent killing of villagers in Bungoma County has left residents and politicians in the region puzzled at what could be the motive behind the attacks.

A special team of investigators dispatched to the area from police headquarters has failed to unearth the motive behind the attacks a week later.

Detectives handling the attacks are yet to disclose what they have so far gathered from more than 10 suspects they have arrested and interrogated.

A special house to house operation led by Western provincial police officer in charge of operations Aret Hassan has also failed to get to the root of the attacks.

Three days after the operation was launched, the attackers have continued with their activities.

Residents now claim police could have arrested and charged the wrong suspects since the gang is continuing with its activities undeterred.

What is puzzling is that the attacks seem to lack a clear motive, with the gang killing and maiming villagers indiscriminately.

Though they have stolen a few items, theft may not have been their main intention as their target has been mainly the poor in villages.

The situation has become more complicated with various groups and leaders in the county engaging in blame game over the attacks.

Bungoma Governor Ken Lusaka says the lack of coordination among the various security agencies is to blame for the persistent attacks.

"There seems to be disconnect between the Provincial Administration and the police. They should read from the same script if they have to address the challenges," says Mr Lusaka.

Bungoma County Commissioner Jamleck Baruga has claimed the attacks are politically instigated.

Area OCPD Amos Cheboi, however, says police have so far not gathered any evidence to show the attacks are political.

Residents now want Mr Baruga to name the politicians behind the killings.

Bungoma lawyer Amos Makokha wants the county commissioner to shed more light on the politicians' involvement.

He says Mr Baruga should provide police with the information.

"Mr Baruga should name the politicians behind the attacks and provide evidence to sustain the charges," says Mr Makokha.

He argues that the fact that two assistant chiefs and a village elder have been charged in relation to the ongoing attacks is enough to show the attacks are backed by "big people".

The ugly truth about Bungoma attacks - News - nation.co.ke

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Cops and gangs: When will this insecurity menace end?

A nurse attends to Mr Chrispinus Wanjala at Bungoma District Hospital last week following an attack on Mayanja village.

By EDITH FORTUNATE efortunate@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Monday, May 13 2013 at 04:57

In Summary

• t was a night of terror. A gang of between 15 and 30 people raided the village and hacked him and nine others to death. Ojulo's life was taken away in a puzzling incident that has left many in shock and fear. Injured villagers were rushed to hospital with cuts all over their bodies.
• Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo said several people linked to the attacks in Bungoma and Busia have been arrested.
• In Garissa, one of the most insecure towns lately, police reports indicate that illegal trade was fuelling the deadly attacks.

As dusk set in, Patrick Ojulo, a security guard in Teso South District in Busia County, left his home and walked to his place of work.

It seemed like an ordinary evening save for the fact that it was the beginning of the month, a time when thoughts of settling debts and working out monthly budgets run through the minds of many.

It would not be off the mark to imagine that Ojulo possibly had such thoughts as he kept vigil at his place of work.

There is no way to find out because Ojulo did not live to see the next day.

It was a night of terror. A gang of between 15 and 30 people raided the village and hacked him and nine others to death. Ojulo's life was taken away in a puzzling incident that has left many in shock and fear. Injured villagers were rushed to hospital with cuts all over their bodies.

(something about similar attacks in Bungoma?)

The Busia and Bungoma killings are a part of the current state of insecurity in the country.

Many have observed that insecurity has gone up since the onset of the election campaigns.

From cattle rustling, muggings, revenge attacks, to gun violence, many Kenyans are finding themselves at the mercy of criminals who have little or no regard for human life.Early last week, at least four people were killed in Narok South in an attack that was alleged to have been carried out by a gang from neighbouring Tanzania.

Insecurity has become widespread in the country. No one seems safe anymore, not even school children. Indeed, a day before schools opened on May 6, pupils in eight primary schools in Baringo County expressed fears about going back to class after their families fled attacks in the area.Local leaders, led by Baringo South MP Grace Kipchoim, asked the government to prioritise security as promised during the campaigns.

"Hundreds of people have been rendered homeless in Mukutani and Mochongoi divisions and it is only fair if the government revisits the history of this menace and resettles the IDPs who are now languishing in makeshift camps," Ms Kipchoim said on May 5.

"The lives of the learners have been destroyed. Some did not sit their end-of-term exams after their schools were vandalised by the armed raiders. How can children studying in such harsh conditions be expected to compete with their counterparts in other parts of the country?" she asked.

Marigat district commissioner Saul Moywaywa said a new GSU camp had been set up at Arabal and that more than 60 security personnel had been deployed to boost security in the volatile area.

Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo said several people linked to the attacks in Bungoma and Busia have been arrested.

"We want them to tell us who is commanding them. Preliminary reports indicate that the attacks could be orchestrated by politicians," Mr Kimaiyo said last week (when?), adding that there were unverified claims that the killings could be the work of a cult.

On May 2, the police chief dispatched a security team led by his deputies - Mr Samuel Arachi and Ms Grace Kaindi - and the director of criminal investigations, Mr Ndegwa Muhoro, to Bungoma and Busia. Their mission was to initiate the process of unravelling the mystery surrounding the attacks.

More attacks have happened even after the high-powered visit. Tension remains high in Bungoma after the attacks that left several people dead and many others injured. There are fears that the gangs could be part of a large group of organised criminals planning to extend their reign of terror to other areas.

The two counties have been relatively calm. Bungoma was affected by organised groups in the 1980s and 1990s.Attacks were carried out by terror gangs Angola Musumbiji, Sabaot Land Defence Forces, and February Eighteen Revolution Army.

Cops and gangs: When will this insecurity menace end? - DN2 - nation.co.ke

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Kabaridi,

what is the 411 on this?...by virtue of you being in the Jamhuri please hebu fill us in.
Mimi hata sielewi chanzo ni nini mazee?

 

[Msingida]

Poleni Wa Kenya kwa msiba,tafuteni amani na muafaka kwa yanayotokea sasa ilikuweza kupunguza ukubwa wa athari zinazoweza kujitokeza.

 

[Kabaridi]

Ab-Titchaz, these murders are conspired politically and planned meticulously, what is the $!! I do not know, but loss of innocent life is also disturbing. This is a snare of its kind that has spilled into the new dispenstion from the former (remember the TANA incidence), that the current govt has to deal, the security agencies must tread carefully while tackling the issue. what is buffling is why polticians especially from CORD have to come out and preempt any links or suggestions of wrong doing and step up accusations of an incompetence police.

 

[Ab-Titchaz]

Finally, genesis of Busia, Bungoma killings unravels

Updated Wednesday, May 15th 2013 at 19:43 GMT +3

We revisit the night-time terror that saw Bungoma and Busia counties dominate headlines in the past month. Elsewhere in this newspaper, we post findings of our investigative team that spent one week interviewing many of the victims, their relatives, neighbours, security agents, clerics and politicians in the region.

The accounts read like a work of fiction but once the reader steps back a little, the testimonies are very chilling. The United Nations was right to term them crimes against humanity, whose script is being written right before our eyes. And in the interests of justice for those victimised, and in the interest of police officers seeking to redeem their image, as well as a young administration thirsting to stamp its authority and keen to be seen to walk the talk on protecting life, limb and property, government must scramble troopers to its action stations.

It would be important to determine the identity of the young upstart, described in hushed tones as being the chief recruiter of an "army of over 2,600 youths tasked with providing security to politicians" across Western during the campaign period.

This is the first direct umbilical link of the mayhem to its political paymasters. It is also understood that the so-called Kabuchai Defence Forces (KDF), led by one known on the street as "General" is at pains to model itself on the 1970s-style Kakamega terror group Angola-Msumbiji. They must be dealt with like the Sabaot Land Defence Force, Mungiki, Al Shabaab and Mombasa Republican Council.

Secondly, as we have stated here before, local populations, even when they have been threatened into silence, usually know who the rotten apples among them are. And if they are wagging an accusing finger at the upcoming poll petitions, there needs to be deeper investigation.

Such allegations must bear scrutiny because many of these attacks could be revenge attacks by poll losers, ethnic cleansing and forcible relocation of populations so that potential witnesses are silenced or forced to flee into exile.

We are aware that long-serving security agents were all transferred, meaning we are addressing the new boots and Intelligence operatives on the ground. Short of holding their hand and shoving them in a particular direction, they should at the very least put our concerns to rest.

Standard Digital News - Kenya : Finally, genesis of Busia, Bungoma killings unravels

 

[Kabaridi]

Leaders of killer gang flee to Uganda



Two ringleaders of the gang behind the killings in Busia have escaped to Uganda.


Investigations by the Nation Thursday established that the two fled through the Malaba border town after they were implicated by their juniors who were later lynched in Akobwait village, Teso.

Five suspects have so far escaped to Uganda since the brutal killing of 10 people in Bungoma and Busia counties in the past three weeks.

More than 100 people have been injured in the attacks in the two counties.

And Thursday Mr Fred Wetang'ula, the brother of Bungoma senator Moses Wetang'ula, who has been questioned by police in connection with the violence in the county, denied any involvement.

He asked Bungoma county commissioner Jamleck Baruga to leave the police to do their work instead of spreading propaganda about the attacks.

"Police summoned me after Mr Baruga mentioned my name at a public meeting. Up to now they (police) have no evidence linking me to the violence. Why is the commissioner linking me to the chaos?" he asked.

Mr Wetang'ula could not understand why the authorities were targeting Ford Kenya in their investigations if the violence is due to a supremacy war between two parties in Bungoma as alleged.

Teso police boss Elphas Korir confirmed that the two ring leaders had indeed escaped to Uganda.

He said efforts had been stepped up to ensure they were arrested and repatriated to Kenya to face murder and robbery with violence charges.

"We have contacted our (police) counterparts in Uganda to assist in apprehending the suspects," Mr Korir said in an interview with the Nation in Busia Town where he was attending a peace meeting yesterday.

Mr Korir said 145 suspects had been arrested in connection with the violence, which began last month. Five of them have been charged with robbery and murder.

He said efforts to bring to book some suspects were increasingly getting difficult because some of the Teso residents had relatives in Uganda, where the community also has roots.

Seven homes were two weeks ago hit by the well-organised gang in Teso.

Mr Korir said the attacks were executed in a similar manner as those in Bungoma, where the gangs enter homesteads while singing, claiming they had apprehended thieves.


They then ask occupants of the homesteads to come out of their houses before turning against them with sharp objects - including axes, machetes and spears. They hack some of them to death.

The attackers operate in groups of between 10 and 15, Mr Korir said.

"We are exploring the key motive of the attacks and we are sure we will get to the bottom of it," he said.


"In some cases the gangs just wanted to steal," he added.

In Busia, police boss Kenneth Kimani confirmed that three suspects had escaped to Uganda.

He said the suspects are believed to have been behind an attack in Mbenga, where they killed one man without stealing anything from him.

Three other suspects are in police custody, Mr Kimani told the Nation at his office in Busia Town Thursday.

Independent investigations by the Nation established that the gang, said to be behind the attacks, had its main command in Malaba Town.

Residents interviewed said accounts from suspects they had lynched were clear that they received instructions from a man nicknamed ‘Musa', now believed to have fled to Uganda.

Bishop Meshack Ambei of Vision of Christ Ministry Church said the man was identified by one of the suspects cornered by villagers before he was lynched.

Leaders of killer gang flee to Uganda - Politics - nation.co.ke