Over the past five years, Mr James Kimani believes he would have made at least Sh780,000 from his small-scale poultry project in Ikuyu village, Murang'a South, were it not for a criminal gang whose acts of economic sabotage have scared many into giving up on business ventures.
After completing his secondary education in 2012 and attaining a grade of D+, he could not secure a place in the Kenya Police Service for three consecutive annual trials since "I could not raise the Sh100, 000 that was being demanded".
But after saving some cash from menial jobs he did in Maragua and Kenol towns in Murang'a County till 2015, he was able to raise Sh50,000, which he intended to invest in poultry farming.
"My projection was practical since I needed Sh30 to have a day-old chick – Sh10 for a fertilised egg and Sh20 for the incubator. I planned for a stock cycle of 200 chicks, which I would rear for a month at a cost of Sh17,000 and sell them off at Sh200 each to rake in Sh13,000 in net profit each monthly cycle," he calculates.
In five years, he is sure he would have made Sh780,000, enough to enable him to venture into real estate. His enterprise, however, lasted just three months.
On the eve of market day, a gang of 10 youths raided his home and at machete-point, carted away all the 200 chicks he had, ransacked his house and took off with the Sh30,000 he had.
"That was how I lost my script to riches and went back to my menial jobs, where I have not been able to accumulate any meaningful capital since my responsibilities increased when I got married in 2018 and got twins aged two years," he says.
He says, "Let us treat that as a bad history. I'm really sorry but I assure you that in my tenure here such stories will not occur since I will eradicate all the gangs here."
According to area ward rep Charles Mwangi, the trend of criminals limiting enterprise in many of the region's villages is phenomenal.
"We have this challenge and our people have come to appreciate the fact that security is a key factor in wealth creation. We are now associating the insecurity that has periodically affected our region to the prevailing poverty levels. Many youths would have been meaningfully engaged but, at some point, their startups and dreams were shattered by marauding gangs," he says.
Mr Mwangi cites illicit brews and narcotics for the emergence of gangs such as mungiki, Gaza, Holy Basilica, Ganja and Usiku Sacco. The gangs, he said, have not only scared away new investors, they have also choked profitability of new investments and stifled growth in key sectors like real estate.
The gangs have gone beyond stealing to violence, which has seen some of the victims lose their ability to fend for their families.
A case in point is Mr James Maina, 39, who in August 2020 suffered a broken right leg, which had to be fitted with a metal plate to enable him to walk again. This cut short his ability to work as a casual at construction sites around Kirinyaga County.
In Maragua town, Mr James Mugo recalls with bitterness an incident where a gang inflicted a deep cut on his head that resulted in a severe nerve disorder that made him lose his memory.
In Kandara sub-county, Samuel Irungu, 28, was hacked to death by a gang.
Murang'a Cooperatives Chief Officer Bernard Wanyoike says, "It is high time local security managers realised being in the grip of this well-known gang is a sure ticket to poverty."
He adds that the most critical sectors, which have the potential to lift the youth from poverty are poultry, dairy, beef, rabbits, pigs, goats and dog rearing, "but with rampant insecurity in certain areas of our region, it has not been possible to fully utilise the sectors to empower societies".
Central Region Commissioner Wilfred Nyagwanga told nation.africa that "we in security management identify with this problem and we have set ourselves a goal to clear all those village gangs".
He said all chiefs and their assistants had been tasked to conduct patrols and work with police stations to firmly and decisively deal with all criminal gangs.
Former Nyumba Kumi security programme Chairman Joseph Kaguthi told nation.africa that "if we had all along insisted on treating grassroots enterprise as we do with critical installations, the kind of poverty levels we witness in some parts of the country would be history".
He added that nothing erodes confidence in governance more than "for a youth to rear a chicken and when it matures it gets stolen…"
