Kenya warned over rising political goonism, surge in organised gang violence
Stakeholders have cautioned that the increasing use of hired youths for political errands is evolving into a dangerous culture of political thuggery, especially ahead of the 2027 General Election.
By Adieri Mulaa
Growing acts of goonism in the country pose serious threats to state security and the social-economic fabrics if the vice is not nipped in the bud.
A culture of political thuggery has manifested in the campaigns ahead of the 2027 General Election. It has morphed into ruthless acts of thuggery that have been reported in many urban areas and villages in parts of the country.
Former Interior Principal Secretary, Dr. Karanja Kibicho says there is need to put in place policies that support growth of small and medium scale manufacturing firms to create job opportunities for the young people.
Former United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary General, Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi has cautioned political players against engaging in activities that would create armed criminal groups and militias like the cases witnessed in other countries.
Speaking on Citizen TV’s JKLIVE show, the former Cabinet Minister cited the Janjaweed militia which grew in Dafur region of Sudan, and the armed militias in Haiti, where Kenya has been on a mission to restore peace.
Such activities by politicians, he said, undermine Kenya’s democracy and instrument’s of State security, thus putting the National Police Service in an awkward position.
Counties have reported rising waves of criminal activities that pose danger to their social and economic fabrics, if they are not nipped in the bud.
In his first public statement on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 after leaving office four years ago, Kibicho while appearing on Citizen TV’s JKLive show said politicians were feeding vampires in the name of goons they hire for their political errands.
In Mumias West Sub-County, Kakamega County, night attacks by armed gangs have created fear and anxiety among the residents, with reports of fatalities and serious injuries.
The area residents are now pointing fingers at their political leaders, and the National Government administration officials for remaining silent over the state of insecurity in the area.
Speaking of the popular Citizen TV’s JKLIVE show, Kibicho explained that when the short-term engagements lapse after elections next year, the youth would become idle in their new status without the income they are used to.
On the night of February 27, 2026, a police officer was killed by daring assailants at Nyalenya Police Patrol Base in Musanda Ward, Mumias West Sub-County, Kakamega county.
Six male assailants reportedly arrived at the patrol base at about 9:00 pm on two motorbikes. They duped officers on duty to believe they were on a distress mission to report about a stolen motorcycle. But while inside the station, they opened fire, killing a corporal and injured his two colleagues.
The criminals made away with two G3 rifles, each loaded with 20 rounds of ammunition. A spouse to one of the officers also sustained gunshot injuries in the attack.
A former Chief Executive Officer of Nairobi Central Business District Association (NCBDA), Dr. Festo Fadamula, says frequent attacks by armed gangs that are prevalent in the area, have taken a toll on the livelihoods of vulnerable residents.
Fadamula pointed out that on Saturday, May 16, 2026, an ambitious dream of a 20 year-old pre-university youth, Duncan Omung’ala, to become an engineer was been buried into eternity.
Duncan was murdered on the night of May 5, by machete wielding robbers. They broke into his father’s shop at Khundanda shopping center in Etenje Ward, Mumias West Sub-County, Kakamega County, killed him and stole properties.
Fadamula has declared his interest to vie for Mumias West constituency seat in the 2027 General Election in order to give the community better representation. He says the National Police Service (NPS) could forestall such robberies, if they embrace community policing initiative as a security strategy.
In an exclusive interview with The Informer Weekly, Fadamula asserted that nothing was more important to a either a community, urban area or city, than security.
”Insecurity collapses everything because people stop positive thinking and resort to worries and anxiety”, he said.
He adds that issuance of bursaries and construction of perimeter walls around schools and other public facilities alone is not enough to uplift the lives of the residents of Mumias West.
Fadamula, an industrialist, has embarked on sponsoring youth and women groups through his philanthropic programmes, to alleviate poverty among vulnerable residents by empowering them.
Kibicho who served in President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration as the powerful Interior and Coordination of National Government Principal Secretary asserted that responsibility lies with the National Government to listen to the Gen Z, whose problems mainly revolve around lack of job opportunities.
”They have no hope, no jobs and education for them is at stake due to fees requirements”, he said. Kibicho noted that revolutions that have succeeded in history came through the young people.
Over two decades ago in early 2000, the NCBDA, a business-centered lobby outfit came up with a community policing initiative that was aimed at taming runaway security in the capital city at the time.
Fadamula said the Association’s flagship projects included the unprecedented establishment of police booths in the central business district and the city suburbs, in collaboration with the police service.
This enabled the community policing initiative to function effectively. It helped to curb crime in Nairobi City through citizen participation. Residents were able give police officers information or report crime incidents more easily.
Ideally, security is the foundational pillar of development that spurs economic growth for the people as well as urban areas and cities.
Media reports have revealed a growing trend of armed assailants and juvenile delinquency in villages and urban areas across the country. The emerging criminal phenomenon has been associated with the high level of unemployment and drug abuse by many youth.
During the interview, Fadamula narrated how the NCBDA came up with a community policing frame work that helped to restore sanity in Nairobi City, through establishment of police booth in strategic crime spots.
He recalled how in the mid1990s up to the early 2000, Nairobi City was plagued by rampant violent crime. The wave of robberies in the capital city were carried out by organised gangsters armed with firearms.
The criminals could stage broad daylight robberies in the Nairobi’s central business district and various city suburbs.
Their targets were banks, carjackings on the city roads, and raiding shops to steal the day’s cash collections. The robbers also targeted cash on transit, either to or from commercial banks.
The wave of crime swept through the capital city for several years. It was coupled with poor service delivery by the defunct City Council of Nairobi. Consequently, Nairobi was downgraded on the global stage as a city that did not measure to international standards.
”In January 2001, the soaring rate of crime in the capital city prompted the United Nations International Civil Service Commission ICSC) to downgrade Nairobi on the global stage, from a Class B hardship station to a Class C station”, said Fadamula.
Lately, criminal gangs have taken advantage of prevailing economic hardships and public protests, to engage in burglary, looting properties worth millions of shillings from business premises including supermarkets, shops and kiosks selling assorted goods.
Several counties across the country, including Nairobi City, Kakamega County, Kisumu City, Vihiga County, Mombasa City, Nakuru City, and a number of towns have reported waves of criminal activities.
Indications are that some youth involved in the criminals acts are among those often hired by some politicians to accompany them on their missions, including, political events and burial ceremonies.
Media reports indicate incidents of criminal activities by armed gangsters who attack and rob business premises and the residents. In some incidents, the criminals commit burglary at shopping centers in the neighbourhoods, with reported cases of fatalities.
On the night of Saturday, May 23, 2026, Hannington Were, the son of former Matungu MP David Were, was waylaid and killed by assailants ridding on a motorbike near Wayside Junction along Nyerere Road, in Kisumu City. He succumbed to lethal stab wound injuries.
It is also in Kisumu City, where on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, about 20 armed goons attacked Vihiga Senator Godfrey Osotsi, at Java Restaurant within Westend Mall complex in broad daylight, seriously injuring him.
It is evident, that the growing culture of hired goons is mostly perpetuated by pro-government political players, which puts the National Police Service (NPS) in a catch-22 situation.
Fadamula laments that the community in Mumias West constituency is highly afflicted by frequent incidents of attacks by criminal gangs yet the local leadership was not bothered to address the situation.
However, his aspirations focus on empowering the community through various projects.
