A resurgence of robberies, muggings and house break-ins in Kericho County has struck fear in residents, with a gang of criminals on the loose.
Three suspected robbers were gunned down and two others injured on Saturday morning, bringing back horrors of carjackings, house break-ins and muggings that were thought to have been contained in in the past two years.
It has emerged that a gang has been operating in Kericho town, and on the Kericho-Nakuru, Kericho-Litein-Sotik and Kericho-Kisumu roads, terrorising residents at night.
Victims have lost property and money, with some suffering injuries. Residents have now urged police to act against rising crime.
In the Saturday morning incident, the felled gangsters are alleged to have robbed someone at Duka Moja, near Brooke trading centre, on the outskirts of Kericho town.
The bodies of the victims were taken to the Kericho County Referral Hospital mortuary while the injured suspects were admitted at the same hospital under tight security.
Mr Sylus Gichunge, the Kericho county police commander, said the five suspects were using a Toyota saloon whose registration number, KBT127Y, had been altered to KBE 12Y.
Two toy pistols, a knife, and metal bars were found in the vehicle after the shootout at Kapsuser trading centre on the Kericho-Litein-Sotik highway.
The vehicle was riddled with bullet holes and its left front side extensively damaged. It was impounded and towed to the Kericho Police Station.
“A tip from the public was a major breakthrough in (our efforts to catch the criminals)” … and police have been trailing them, said Mr Gichunge.
An upsurge in attacks has been reported after President Uhuru Kenyatta lifted the nationwide night curfew that was in place for one year as one of the Covid-19 containment measures.
“When the curfew was in place, there was a heavy police presence in the town centre, residential estates and on the highways, but after it was lifted, crime has risen and a majority of incidents go unreported,” said Ms Beatrice Koech, a trader.
A bank manager was robbed of money and other valuables when he dropped off a relative at home last weekend.
A trader who operates a chemist is nursing injuries after being attacked and robbed of money by thugs armed with guns and crude weapons.
“I was flagged down by an armed gang posing as police officers in civilian clothes, who robbed me of over Sh40,000 in cash and hit me with a metal bar. They even had a dog on a leash and a saloon car,” said the trader, who declined to be named fearing reprisals.
“It is a perfect case of a storm after a lull in criminal activities in Kericho. Security agencies should up their game and take drastic measures against the gangsters terrorising residents at night,” said Kericho Woman Representative Florence Bore.
“The people need to be assured of their security as it is the responsibility of the government to protect the citizens and their property,” she said.
A few robberies were reported last year and the early part of 2021 in the county, with police setting up roadblocks on highways and patrolling residential estates while enforcing the now lifted night curfew, thus curtailing the movement of the criminals.
But in 2019, there were several robberies, murders, house break-ins and muggings in the region.
Three suspects - Simon Kipngeno Sigey, Simon Kipkemboi Rotich and Leonard Kibet Korir - were arrested and charged with robbing and murdering a couple and their five-year-old child on April 1, 2019 in Motobo village in Kericho town.
The victims - Benard Kipkirui Langat, Ms Adija Cherotich and their son - were murdered by a gang armed with weapons such as machetes, a claw hammer, a Somali sword, a spanner, a chisel, a screw driver and wooden logs.
They were robbed of a SAYONA PPS woofer valued at Sh10,500, two Infinix mobile phones valued at Sh54,000, a national identity card, a driving licence, an East Africa Community passport, NSSF membership card, a KCB Bank ATM card, all valued at Sh40,000.
A couple suspected to have been involved in a spate of kidnappings and robbery with violence in the South Rift Valley and Mt Kenya were arrested in Litein, Kericho County on April 1, 2019.
Police said the two were wanted at the Wima Police Station in Othaya, Nyeri County, where they were accused of stealing the number plates of a motor vehicle on December 12, 2019 in Gathenge village.
The stolen number plate was affixed to a Toyota Allion, registered as KBN 860C, stolen in Kerugoya, Kirinyaga County, and which they were found in possession of when they were arrested on March 20, 2019 in Litein.
The suspects had concealed the original registration numbers (KBN 860 C) imprinted on the car’s windows but had not removed the insurance sticker.
The couple were being sought by the Sotik Police Station in Bomet County for allegedly kidnapping and robbing a teacher, who allegedly lost Sh100,000 in the incident on March 8, 2019 on the Bomet-Kaplong highway.
Over five months, the suspects are alleged to have terrorised residents of Bomet, Kericho, Sotik, Kaplong, Mulot, Longisa and Kapkatet towns, kidnapping businessmen and withdrawing money from their bank accounts and mobile money wallets.
In one incident, they were captured by CCTV cameras entering a shop and withdrawing money from a victim’s bank account after a kidnapping ordeal.
“I was lured into their car in Bomet town and strangled using a scarf as they ransacked my bag, took my mobile phone, demanded a PIN and transferred Sh58,000 in my M-Pesa account,” said one victim at the time.
“They took possession of my bank ATM card and demanded a PIN and withdrew Sh40,000. They forced me to call friends and relatives to send money through M-Pesa, which they also withdrew,”
The gangsters look for soft targets by pretending to offer lifts to travellers. They then pounce on their victims once they are in the car and demand valuables and money as they threaten to kill them.
