Nation Media Group

September 16, 2020

On July 19, a gang of teenagers reigned terror in Nairobi’s Kayole estate, leaving in their wake broken arms and neighbours cowering in their dwellings.

A band of violent and ruthless thugs that kill at the slightest provocation, they were on a rescue-cum-revenge mission following the capture of their leader after an earlier raid.

“Humanity isn’t in their system; blood is nothing to them. I should be dead. I don’t know how I survived. I thank God, it’s a miracle,” recalls Samir Oloo, one of the victims who was only saved by the quick action of a Good Samaritan.

Every time he stares at the scars on his body, events of the fateful day painfully replay in his mind.

“They stabbed me multiple times. They broke my arms; I had internal bleeding. I’ve been on medication ever since,” recounts the father of three.

Ruthless criminal gangs
“They had attacked a lady, but as they fled the scene with her valuables, residents gave chase and captured the leader. He was, however, released. All was well, but as I walked home alone, they pounced on me from nowhere.

“They took away my cellphone, wedding ring, Sh30,000 chama money and silver chains then stabbed me multiple times. I was rushed to Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital by a Good Samaritan. I recognised some of them and reported to the police but no action was taken.”

Such is life in most informal settlements; a daily dose of pain and misery. Teenage gangs that idolise hardcore criminals have taken over State functions from the authorities; they control the streets and alleys. They are brutal, vengeful and kill at will. They are the government, they are the law.

Portmore, Gaza, Kiarwana, Homeboyz, B3, Mad Lion, Mungiki, Kamjeshi, Jeshi la Embakasi, Kenya Youth Alliance, Kamukunji boys, Munyipi, Taliban, Superpower, Nubians, Siafu, Kamukunji Pressure Group, Yes We Can, J-10 and Ram Squad are some of the squads whose criminal acts know no friends, neighbours, parents, the old or young.

To them, anything goes, as long as it presents an opportunity to make some quick cash. With an average of 30 members aged 14–26, their specialties are muggings, carjackings, shoplifting, prostitution and rape. Guns, machetes, knives, axes and clubs are their weapons of choice.

“Although they look like normal teenage kids, they are extremely ruthless. We see them every day, some are my neighbours. They knew me well but still stabbed me,” recalls Oloo, then offers in retrospect: “They are just lazy youths who do not want to engage in any lawful form of earning a living. All they want is fast cash to fund their drugs and alcohol.”

The struggle for survival in a ‘man-eat-man’ society encapsulates the inescapable gang violence that entraps thousands of people in Kayole and other informal settlements. A police officer privy to the operations of these gangs said Superpower, based in Eastleigh and Dandora, Gaza Boys (Kayole), the 40 Brothers (City Centre), Usiku Sacco (Umoja) and Msako Empire (Huruma) have signature looks.

“They put on heavy neck jewellery, flashy rings on their fingers, certain designer caps, T-shirts and jeans. They prefer putting on two pairs of jeans to help them secure their firearms,” he offers. In some gangs, members have dragon tattoos with coded meanings.

A 2018 report by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) revealed the existence of more than 100 gangs in the country, with women and children – some as young as nine years – being inducted into crime. Kayole, Kibera, Lunga Lunga slums, Jericho and Soweto are some of the most dangerous places in the city, according to the Security Research and Information Centre.

Makadara, Mukuru Kwa Reuben slums, Kariokor, Mlango Kubwa and Kongo section of Dagoretti Division are awash with guns for hire. Huruma, Lucky Summer, Kariobangi and Mathare are also crime hotspots.

*Steve Mwangi is a reformed member of a teen gang that used to operate in Dandora. He joined the gang because of peer pressure.

“I joined the gang because all my friends were in it and I did not want to be looked at as a snitch because I knew what they were doing,” he says.

Because of their young age, they would mainly waylay mama mbogas and snatch their handbags.

“One day, we were not lucky; the mama mboga we had targeted did not let go of her bag. She held on to it while screaming, attracting passers-by. In no time, we had been surrounded. I only escaped because of my short stature as they assumed I was not part of the gang. I watched helplessly as my friends were lynched,” he recounts.

Having survived by a whisker, his parents sent him back to school under the care of his grandmother at their rural home in Nyahururu and only returned to the city after his college education.

Susan Wangui’s teenage son was not as lucky. Derrick Ndung’u, 19, was lynched in Komarock in May after robbing a woman of her cellphone. His accomplices escaped on a motorbike.

“He was a thief in Maili Saba (Kayole). I cannot defend him. He used to snatch cellphones. I had warned him but he did not stop. I tried my best,” offers Wangui.

She once posted a Sh500,000 (Usd 5,000) bond and got him a business but with the lure of quick money, he loved the adrenaline rush.

“His uncle, aunts and grandmother pleaded with me to intervene and bail him out. I paid the Sh500,000 bond for his release. But what did he do? Instead of leading a better life, he went back into crime,” she says. “I am advising his friends to reform or suffer a similar fate.”

Kayole South has lost more than 1,000 youths while a sizeable number have just disappeared. For Oloo, if it were not for the death of his elder brother in 2005, who was among six criminals felled by police in Mowlem, he might have also ended up in the slum dog’s life.

“After our parents died, he was the family’s breadwinner. He was killed with five of his friends. They had just completed a highway robbery,” he recounts.

The youth leader now hopes that through One Vibe, a community-based organisation, a wind of change will blow through the sprawling estate to transform lives.

“We have been preaching change, although many teenagers wrongfully believe we are being an obstacle to what they want to do. If we can change five, those are lives saved,” he says with optimism.

Registered in 2013, the organisation helps the youth through clean income generating activities, such as car wash projects. Some have joined the Kazi Mtaani programme.

“We started with only six members but grew to 36; some got employed in county governments and other places. We are now 18. There are those willing to join, having seen how their friends have been empowered,” he says.

A majority of Kenyans believe the government is either incapable or unwilling to enforce the law, enabling criminal networks to dictate the lives of thousands of people.

“There are allegations of collusion between some government officers with criminal gangs and that police frequently release them even when there is overwhelming evidence. About 49.1 per cent of the respondents were not aware of any arrests of members of organised criminal gangs in the previous three years even when serious crimes had been committed by them,” states a report by the National Crime Research Centre.

Arbitrary police brutality and relentless corruption within the force, the judiciary, political influence, difficulties in identifying the members and fear of reporting are some of the factors that fuel gang violence.

Caroline Karimi Kariuki, who is in charge of the children’s division in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, blames these miscreants on the high rate of unemployment, broken families and poverty.

“Poverty is the key driver for teenagers because they step up to become breadwinners early in their lives and the only way to do it is by joining the gang since they cannot be employed under the law. Those from unstable backgrounds run away from the toxic environment at home to try and find a safe place, which are the streets,” she offers, adding that crime significantly shoots up during school holidays.

“Children do not choose to be criminals. There are always drivers pushing them in that direction. They see their peers who are into crime living a certain lifestyle, which they admire. These teenagers are controlled by hardened criminals. Whatever they steal is taken to the gang leaders, where they are given an allowance.”

Where dreams of youth are killed

The Star

09 December 2021

Grace Munyagi is the mother of an extrajudicial killing victim. The young man was shot dead on allegations of gang-related relations in 2013.
“I had a son who studied at St Teresa’s Boys’ Secondary School,” she said.

“He was the first child to go through high school education in our nuclear and extended family. He performed pretty well in his Form 4 exams, given the circumstances.”

Before he was shot dead, the police arrested him and took him to Shauri Moyo. Grace and her husband went to the police station. Upon further inquiry, the police released their son because they had no evidence of wrongdoing.
“As we stepped out, one of the police yelled, ‘We shall kill this one.’ True to their word, my son was shot dead in less than a week,” Grace said.
“We tried to report and seek justice for our son, but with no resources, it was impossible.”

Their efforts to seek aid from the chief and senior police administrators were unsuccessful. Grace tearfully narrated, “I prayed and asked God to give me the strength to carry on and accept the loss of my son so I could bury him in peace.”

Born in a family where the father had five wives and later abandoned them with their mother, Grace has a rough life. She did not have the opportunity to study much. However, she wanted to give their son the best she could.
“I looked up to him, he was brilliant, and a curious free spirit, always asking so many questions. I knew he would make something of his life. His death broke me to the very core of my being.”

Grace says the police should not be allowed to take the law into their hands. If her son had been involved in criminal gangs as they accused him of, it would have been good for him to have his day in court and face the consequences as opposed to killing him.

TRAUMATISED COMMUNITY
Majengo is a socioeconomically impoverished community. The incidents of disappearance and extrajudicial killings have traumatised the community even further. Poverty, hopelessness and high illiteracy levels make gang life seem like a way out.
Human rights advocate Lempaa Suyianka says the government has dealt with gang recruitment issues in informal settlements by arresting suspected gang members, community policing and championing non-crime economic activities.

He said the Kenyan law is clear that it is criminal to be hired as part of a gang with intent to commit a crime. However, suspects of such crimes are entitled to due process.
Suyianka called for due process once one is found to be on the wrong side, more police training police on humane ways of handling such cases, and incorporation of youth’s training in informal settlements to educate youth on other ways to make a living.

The common root causes for young people in informal settlements to join criminal gangs are poverty, ignorance, slow court process and large populations with scarce resources.
Zuria Omar, a mother and natural-born leader, carries a heavy burden to better her living environs in Majengo, one of Kenya’s informal settlements.

“I lost my son who was married with children. He left everything. As a family, we have never heard from him since 2009. I don’t know if he is alive or dead; I wish I at least knew,” she said.

Speaking on behalf of the parents of the children who disappeared, allegedly to Somalia, Omar said it was such a problematic scenario. The families of the children who disappeared were victimised in the community.

“People assumed that the families of children who were radicalised and left the country were given hefty commissions,” she said.
“Nothing could be further from the truth because most parents were not aware that their children planned or were planning to leave.”
The situation became worse, with police harassing family members, especially of the male children who left.

“I organise for family members whose children had disappeared. We got together and shared the shocking stories of our children disappearing; we encouraged each other and gave support where we could,” Omari said.
They realised a pattern when they came together as a group. It was impossible to report the cases to the police since they could not find identifying documents or even pictures of their children when they checked.

“It appears the disappearance was carefully planned in secrecy, and the children’s identification documents burned as if they do or did not exist,” Omar said.

Family members, particularly parents, endured gruesome police harassment and interrogations about their children’s whereabouts, she added.
This only widened the gap of the already existing stigma of the victim families in Majengo.
“People became cautious about associating with the family members of those affected by the virtual guilt by association,” Omar said, exhaling deeply as she remembered the dark days.

“Some children who came back from Somalia despite their willingness to reform and integrate into society were killed by police or community members. At the same time, others live in hiding, unable to make a living or have a normal life.” 

FALLING PREY
The recruitment in Majengo began when young men at the Pumwani mosque yearned for a change in leadership. It looked like young people had a genuine interest in spiritual things and the community’s welfare to the outsiders.

“Parents did not question the intentions of their children to spend more time at the mosque. Little did they know that the rebel group recruitment and insightful statements being passed to them enticed them to join the wrong groups,” Omar said.
Beyond socio-psychological support, she also started engaging in a financial support system (chama) to allow members to start and sustain a small business.

She said it is important to see others as fellow human beings and foster empathy because everyone suffers a different type of trauma; being kind will go a long way in ensuring a healthier society.
According to rights group Haki Africa, there were 43 cases of extrajudicial killings in 2021, while 32 were reported in 2020. Mombasa and the coastal region are especially hard hit.
Mathias Shipeta, a rapid response officer at Haki Africa, is passionate about atrocities in society, particularly those that violate human rights.

He has interacted with cases of gang violence and gang relations allegations. Sadly, some result in the death of the alleged victims.
“Gang recruitments and affiliations in informal settlements, such as Bangladesh, Likoni and Kisauni, makes youth prone to criminal gangs as well experiencing extrajudicial killings,” Shipeta said.

Some commonly known gangs are: Wakali Kwanza, Wanjuku wa bibi, Battalion Sixty and Gaza. And new groups keep coming up.

“Unsafe homes, poor parenting and poor role modelling are among the leading causes of young people joining criminal gangs. Unemployment also greatly influences some of the children’s decision to join criminal gangs to make a living,” Shipeta said.
He explained how the young and new members are taught the operation methods of the gang group. They start with light duties till they graduate to the complete-blown violent acts of stealing and robbery.

As parents in most informal settlement areas strive to make ends meet, they spend less time with the children, opening the space for wrong mentorship and influences.
“Maybe due to strict observation, the police seem to have shifted tactics in how returnees and alleged gang members are being handled. They are not just shot dead anymore; they disappear and are found dead at a later date in gruesome ways,” Shipeta said.

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE
Haki Africa has programmes to support justice-seeking parents or families of victims of extrajudicial violence. They are offering trauma and healing support and shunning in the strongest terms possible the killing of young people in these communities.
Police spokesman Bruno Shioso says the government is also tackling the problem. “To deal with the issues of criminal gang recruitment, we rely on our intelligence capabilities, advocacy and creating awareness against anti-gang activities through various forms,” he said, citing, the utility of community policing as a tool to reach out to the public and seek their cooperation. 

On extrajudicial killings, Shioso said, “This occasionally happens though not a problem and norm of our policing activities. But prompt administrative and criminal investigative actions are invoked whenever we have a reported case of police excess leading to death or injury.
“National Police service has a zero-tolerance policy against any form of malpractice and, more so, extrajudicial killings. Further, such cases are independently investigated by Independent Policing Oversight Authority or Internal Affairs Unit.”
Moreover, Shioso said in the cases of forced disappearances, NPS commences investigations once seized of such matters. The challenge is the lack of formal reports or cooperation from family and the public.

“Unfortunately, instead of working with the police to unravel and understand culpability, police get roundly blamed. Critical time to trace loved ones gets lost,” he said.
Shiosi said once investigations are conducted and facts established as to criminal responsibility, action is taken. “Kenya is a rule-of-law country, and police are explicitly a rule-of-law actors first and foremost. They should be known and seen as that.”