Recruitment of juvenile gangs often takes place during school holidays, exposing more youth to crime
Increasing cases of gangs of underage youth involved in violent crimes, including murder, have raised concerns across the country as security agencies scramble to check the trend.
Killing at the slightest provocation and sometimes recording their brutality to share on social media, the juvenile gangs pose a unique risk that has caught the attention of top security agencies.
The most recent case is from the Umoja neighbourhood of Nairobi, where a gang committing various crimes, including attacks on fellow teenagers, has become the talk of the town. It illustrated the devil-may-care attitude of the teen gangs, which are known by colourful names, and the danger they pose in the age of social media.
Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Mohammed Amin.
Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Mohamed Amin told Sunday Nation that there is an ongoing crackdown on such gangs across the country.
“Currently, there is a sustained crackdown against juvenile gangs and other criminal elements, not only in Nairobi but also across the country,” he said.
Last week, the DCI said there are several rival teenage gangs operating in Umoja. They have been identified as Chinje, Mbogi, Bad Bunny, and Silent.
“These groups have been linked to violent confrontations, phone snatching, and theft within the areas of Tena, Innercore, Umoja 1, Umoja 2, Umoja 3, Kayole, Kariobangi, and neighbouring estates. Recruitment often takes place during school holidays, exposing more youth to crime,” Mr Amin said in a statement in relation to the Eastlands-based teen gangs.
A survey has identified at least 309 criminal gangs in Kenya.
By Thursday, detectives attached to the Buruburu Police Station had made 14 arrests – 10 boys and four girls – who are linked to crime in the area. The suspects were arraigned at the Makadara Law Courts, where police were allowed to detain them pending investigations.
The bloodletting by the juvenile gangs has left a trail of tears. One of their unfortunate casualties is Joshua Kubiti, who was beaten to death. His mother, Ms Winfred Kitavi, never knew that Friday, August 22, would be the last day she would see her son alive.
On that day, they spoke at length, especially on what he needed as he headed back to Matungulu Secondary School for the third term.
Police crackdown
“If I knew that the interaction was the last one I would be having with my son, I would have barred him from leaving the house,” she said, explaining how she later received a phone call about her son being attacked by the gang. He died on arrival at Radiant Hospital in Umoja.
Joshua’s death triggered a police crackdown. The ringleader of the group that ended his life has been identified, though he remains in hiding.
Nairobi has in the past been the hub of teen gangs like Gaza in Eastlands, which once hit the headlines for their brutal attacks.
However, the teen criminal menace isn’t exclusive to Nairobi.
At the Coast, the anguish caused by juvenile gangs is a long-standing threat that continues to grip communities in Kwale, Kilifi, and Mombasa.
A dangerous pattern was witnessed at the beginning of the year when locals in Mtwapa, Kilifi County, saw a resurgence of the notorious “Panga Boys” gang.
A concerned resident shared chilling CCTV footage showing the gang attempting a robbery at his compound. Although the thieves managed to steal only a few items, they returned with a larger group shortly after, a clear indication of their continued defiance.
This surge of activity was met with a swift response from police, who launched crackdowns that have since led to a significant reduction in crime.
An operation launched on March 25 led to the detention of 33 suspects in Kwale, with authorities securing a 14-day detention order from the courts. The suspects, accused of violent activities in Diani, were held in various police stations across Kwale, Msambweni, and Diani.
The crackdown escalated on April 4, 2025, with the arrest of nine more suspects in Msambweni, during which officers recovered 11 pangas, knives, and other tools linked to the gang. The ongoing efforts had already netted 51 gang members in Kisauni and 120 more in Kwale following a violent attack on locals in Diani.
Increasing cases of gangs of underage youth involved in violent crimes, including murder, have raised concerns across the country.
The “Panga Boys” got their name from their brutal weapon of choice, and their history spans decades.
Some of the Coast’s juvenile criminal groupings started as social clubs, mainly for playing football, then evolved into criminal gangs competing to be the most dreaded.
Their modus operandi involves randomly attacking residents in lonely alleys, using machetes to steal from them and, at times, to inflict serious harm.
For years, residents have endured this painful reality, a long-standing threat that continues to grip their communities.
Recently in Kwale County, a viral CCTV video raised fears of the gangs’ return. It showed a group of young boys running through a street in Magutu, a neighbourhood in Diani. In the 35-second footage, more than 40 boys were seen running in the same direction from a corner near Magutu Primary and Junior Secondary School at 6pm.
One of the boys grabbed a handbag from a woman at a nearby shop before disappearing into the group. Some of the boys were also seen with weapons.
In a follow-up by Sunday Nation, a police source said the group of boys had just come from a football match and one of them simply took the opportunity to snatch the bag.
The Coast police commander, Mr Ali Nuno, says that the number of cases has reduced. In a phone call interview, he clarified that recent incidents, especially those related to sports, should not be confused with organised crime.
“We do face some challenges on weekends. When there are football matches, fans tend to clash, which leads to hooliganism and should not be treated as organised crime,” he said. “In 2024, we had a lot of criminal gang cases, but we’ve since neutralised them. The coastal region is now safe and secure.”
Mr Nuno also addressed a new challenge: parents shielding their children from justice. He said that initially, parents of juvenile gang members played a huge role in protecting their children, which forced the police boss to resort to arresting them if their children were found in any criminal gangs at the Coast.
“When we find a juvenile involved in a criminal offence, we arrest them along with their parents. If the (suspect) is 18, the parent will be held for being an accessory to an offence. If you receive a person who has committed a crime, comfort and hide him, you are also part of the crime,” he warned.
He urged parents to take responsibility, as court appearances would taint their children’s records.
Adding another layer of complexity to the security situation, Mr Nuno said, is the fact that the outlawed Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) is also present in Rabai, Jomvu, and Tiwi in Kwale County.
In Nyanza, the emergence of amorphous teenage gangs is becoming a major security concern to residents, leaders, and security teams in Kisumu.
They are being referred to as “Mbogi”, while another name cropping up is “Darfur”.
Most of them are domiciled in the informal settlements of Nyalenda, Manyatta, Obunga, Kibos, Nyawita, Bandani, Nyamasaria, Mamboleo, Migosi, and the outskirts of town in areas such as Ofunyu, Rabuor, Ahero, and Katito.
They walk in groups of more than 15 people, some as young as 14 years, harassing people in political rallies, demonstrations, and any available forum they get. Armed with knives, machetes, small axes, and metal rods, they attack any time without warning. They also loot, disrupt transport at will, and set properties ablaze.
The gangs often pose as legitimate boda boda operators, only to turn on unsuspecting passengers with the help of accomplices waiting on the ground.
The latest incident, which almost brought Kisumu to a standstill, was a turf war with the boda boda sector in Kisumu.
On the afternoon of August 24, a boda boda shed at Nyalunya sub-location near Enigma Resort was set ablaze, leading to the arrest of five suspects.
They were protesting the killing of one of their members, which was a retaliatory attack by the boda boda operators whose member was butchered by the teen gang.
A marauding gang is also wreaking havoc in Butere-Mumias and Siaya, stretching all the way to Busia.
Kisumu County Boda Boda Association Chairperson Jacob Ochieng Ogambo, who reported the incident, accused a rival camp associated with a local figure of fuelling the chaos.
Violence
He further alleged that the group is backed by some known individuals, claiming they have been mobilising youths to carry out violence, robberies, and hit-and-run attacks in several estates.
Although the area police commander managed to secure a truce, fear still lingers among Kisumu residents who have faced the gang’s violence.
Another resident described how her teenage son was robbed of his phone while returning home.
“The group is composed of young boys, some even on motorbikes, and they seem organised,” she said.
Motorbikes are their preferred getaway vehicles. They are territorial and most of the time are well coordinated when combined as opposed to clashing among themselves. Most of the time, success is rewarded after the delivery of stolen items to the ringleaders, while failure draws wrath. Sometimes their victims are chosen at random, while others are seemingly high-profile individuals.
For politicians, the sword cuts both ways. When they hire them for political ends, it is all smooth, but when they become a nightmare in political rallies and gatherings, the leaders are usually the biggest targets.
Mr Audi Ogada, a reformed member of the once dreaded Baghdad Boys back in the 1980s and 1990s, is a concerned person.
“We have known groups, but the most lethal and now dangerous are these unorganised young boys who are leaderless and attack at will. They utilise any available opportunity to attack people, including days when the bereaved remove the bodies of their kin. Mourners and passers-by are robbed from the morgue to the burial site,” said Mr Ogada.
He fears that if unchecked, the biggest casualties will be the middle class and the rich, who are not taking a keen interest in the ticking time bomb.
Elsewhere in the Rift Valley, teen gangs are also alive and kicking.
In Uasin Gishu, a criminal gang called B13 operates in residential areas and has members who are armed with crude weapons. Wielding machetes and knives, they have been causing fear among the residents of Kenya’s newest city.
The gangsters derive their “B13” from a notorious street in Munyaka estate, believed to be an operational base for criminals in Eldoret.
According to Victor Waweru, a local boda boda operator in the area, the gang is composed of young people, with the youngest being between 16 and 17 years old.
They carry weapons in their jackets, posing as feeble and harmless youths before they pounce on their targets.
Uasin Gishu County police commander Benjamin Mwathi said that initially, there were such reports, but police have contained the situation.
According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, some children and adolescents are motivated to join a gang for a sense of connection or to define a new sense of who they are.
Additional reporting by Nyaboga Kiage, Manase Otsialo, Rushdie Oudia, Jurgen Nambeka, Barnabas Bii, Karim Rajan and Cece Siago
