For many, Naivasha town in Nakuru County is an ideal tourism hub for visitors who want to get a feel of water and sand.
The tourism hotels, Nairobi-Nakuru highway passing through the dusty town, Lake Naivasha, the nearby flower firms and geothermal exploits, make the town a nerve centre for Nakuru and a loved tourism hub, that has in the past years evolved into a favourite destination for holiday makers.
From beautiful wildlife, abundant birdlife, to hippos at the shows of Lake Naivasha, the tourism hub speaks of heavenly blissful beauty.
But beneath the idyllic veneer of a lover's safari paradise, all is not well in the neighbourhood.
The lakeside town is grappling with mysterious murders that have left security agencies scratching their heads for answers.
The most affected areas include: Karagita informal settlement area situated along Moi South Lake road, Kihoto, Mirera, Mithuri, Kayole and Kongoni, among others.
In the past nine months, more than 12 people, including women, have been murdered under mysterious circumstances in various parts of the lakeside town, tainting the name of the first frontier to the expansive Rift Valley.
The most recent ones are three murders involving middle-aged men, who were found dead in separate incidents, this week.
The deaths, according to the police, occurred in Mirera, Mithuri and Kabazi estates.
"Two of the bodies were found lying by the roadside, and the third man, in his mid-40s was found dead in his house in Kabati. The bodies were taken to the Naivasha Hospital mortuary. We have launched investigations into the incidents, but we are awaiting post-mortem results to determine the causes of death," revealed Naivasha Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Isaac Kiama.
"Inquest files have been opened and statements recorded from relatives as part of the investigations," added the DCI head.
Barely a week ago, two women were murdered in what police suspected to be incidents of ‘love-gone-sour’ cases.
This comes as detectives continue analysing call data linked to an M-Pesa agent whose body was found dumped near the Delamere Farm, on the busy Nakuru–Nairobi Highway, a week ago.
Ms Jane Wanjiru, 30, was found dead near Delamere Farm in Naivasha sub-county, off the busy Nakuru–Nairobi highway, after a night out with friends.
Photo credit: Pool | Nation
An autopsy conducted on the remains of Ms Jane Wanjiru, the M-Pesa operator, in Naivasha town, revealed that she was strangled to death.
The postmortem conducted last weekend, at the Naivasha Sub County Hospital mortuary, indicated that Wanjiru, 31, was first raped and later strangled by her killers.
“We assure the family that those behind the heinous act will be arrested soon," Mr Kiama told the Daily Nation .
Wanjiru, who hails from Kinangop, in Nyandarua County, was married to a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer, based in Gilgil, Nakuru County.
Wanjiru's body was found dumped near Delamere farm, five kilometres from Naivasha Town, with preliminary investigations indicating that, she might have been killed elsewhere before the body was ferried to the scene.
DCI detectives are now piecing together information that will help them unravel the bizarre murder of the trader, who ran an M-Pesa shop in Naivasha town.
"We are following crucial leads as we trace her last movements. We will not rest until we ensure that the killers are apprehended and arraigned in court," said Mr Kiama, who is leading the probe.
The Daily Nation has established that investigators were seeking the victims' mobile phone call logs to determine who she had interacted with before she met her death.
They also seek to understand who she met and those she had conversations with, hours before her body was found dumped on the busy Nakuru-Nairobi highway.
Two weeks ago, a 33-year-old mother of two was stabbed to death in the County Council estate in Naivasha town.
Police at first termed the incident as suicide, but a post-mortem conducted at the Naivasha Sub County Hospital revealed otherwise, as relatives called for justice and the arrest of the killers.
Homicide detectives in collaboration with members of the public, retrieve the body of Jane Wambui Njoroge(inset), a clinical officer, from a shallow grave at her compound in Raini area, in Naivasha.
Photo credit: Eric Matara| Nation Media Group
Since then, two suspects, including a house help, have been arrested.
But even more worrying to residents and security authorities are revelations that at least five women have been killed in the past six months, under unclear circumstances.
"The recent killing of Jane Wanjiru is one of the more than five femicide incidents that have been reported in the past six months. We are worried by the rising cases of murders targeting women; in nearly all cases, the victims were in their mid-30s. We are pleading with detectives to conduct thorough investigations and arrest the perpetrators, ”said Naivasha Gender Based Violence (GBV)cluster group chairperson, Mr John Kinuthia.
According to Mr Kinuthia, the cases of femicide were on the rise at the lakeside town.
A senior police officer told the Nation that they sometimes pick up bodies dumped on the busy Nakuru-Nairobi highway and other places, mainly informal settlement areas.
Homicide detectives and members of the public retrieve the body of Jane Wambui Njoroge, a clinical officer, from a shallow grave at her compound in Raini area, in Naivasha.
Photo credit: Eric Matara| Nation Media Group
"Most places, including the Maai Mahiu -Narok highway and the Nakuru-Nairobi highway, have been turned into body dumping places by criminals. We often collect bodies dumped on the roads," revealed the police officer.
Nakuru Human Rights Network Director David Kuria wants police to investigate and get to the bottom of some of the gruesome murders in the area and arrest perpetrators.
"I call on police officers to probe the incidents and ensure perpetrators are brought to book. It is also prudent that security agents and other stakeholders hold honest conversations to avert the rising criminal activities in Naivasha town and its neighbourhoods," Mr Kuria told the Nation.
In affected areas like Karagita informal settlement area situated along Moi South Lake road, Kihoto, Kayole and Kongoni,a week hardly passes without an incident of murder or some horror story being reported in the neighbourhood.
Karagita, for instance, is a densely populated area that is home to thousands of low-cadre flower workers and job hunters.
According to security agents, the informal settlement area is one of the weirdest social dwellings within the lakeside town, and criminal statistics are telling.
Homicide detectives in collaboration with members of the public, retrieve the body of Jane Wambui Njoroge, a clinical officer, from a shallow grave at her compound in Raini area, in Naivasha.
Photo credit: Eric Matara| Nation Media Group
The informal settlement area has become synonymous with stabbing incidents involving lovers, suicides, rapes, defilements, and the authorities are having a hard time dealing with it.
In the dark alleys of places like Karagita, Kayole, Kihoto and the neighbourhood, crimes of passion have become rampant.
