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Terror gang kills 10 in Kitale
THE STANDARD
05.05.2007
By Anderson Ojwang, Cyrus Ombati and Osinde Obare
Masked gunmen in two vehicles landed in a Kitale market Thursday night and showered everyone in sight with
bullets.
Ms Rosebella Nyakowa, 34, writhes in pain at Kitale district Hospital where she was admitted after being wounded in the
night. Pictures by Peter Ochieng |
Several lay dead as they fled the
scene. When they finally boarded their vehicles, the gunmen in police uniforms left ten innocent Kenyans lying
dead, in a heap of blood and in grotesque positions. Several others lay writhing in
pain, too stunned to cry.
Though they asked for money, the police immediately linked the
orgy, in which some were shot in the kneeling position, to
politics. The regional police chief could not also rule out the fact that the killings were a spillover of the murderous conflict in Mount Elgon being perpetrated by a militia calling itself the Sabaot Lands Defence Force.
The attacks came hardly three days after leaflets were circulated in the
area, commonly known as Majinjoni (slaughterhouse), warning of an impending
attack.
It read in part: "If you are not a Sabaot leave Trans Nzoia District immediately or face the
consequence.’’
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It was yet another gory chapter in the one-year-old skirmishes around the gem of the western Kenya circuit – the gorgeous Mount
Elgon.
The attack at Matisi market bore the trappings of a guerrilla attack, and played itself out as in Hollywood drug-war video clips.
The lightening attack left five men, among them, two brothers, four women and a child dead, throwing the quiet agricultural town into mourning.
Attack jolted the Police Commissioner
The raid lasted about 20 minutes. Dressed in police uniforms and masks, the attackers stormed Matisi Trading centre, slightly over a kilometre from Kitale and demanded money before shooting any person within reach.
Gunshots rent the air as scared and helpless residents fled. A resident, Ms Jennifer Mango, who was with his brother Delton Mango at his shop and who sustained gun injuries on his head, chest and right leg said three armed men entered their shop and asked for the owner.
"Wali sema toa," (they said remove) but my brother took them for police officers and asked if they wanted his identity card, which he produced.
They stormed out and ordered two people and an old man and a teenager who were buying goods from the shop to kneel down.
"They sprayed them with bullets and continued shooting at people passing by as they moved to where they had packed their vehicles," she said.
Jennifer said they ran back into the house and found his brother writhing in pain and calling for help. "I went back to the shop, shoved away the bodies and closed the door before taking a taxi to take my brother to the Mount Elgon hospital,’ she said.
The attack jolted the Police Commissioner Maj-Gen Hussein Ali who responded with an immediate offer of Sh250, 000 to anyone who could help track the killers.
The incident also prompted an early morning meeting at Vigilance House between Ali and other senior officials.
Police are questioning three suspects
The meeting resolved to dispatch a high-powered team of detectives from Nairobi to help track down the killers.
The killing spree came a week after another one in Kinyoro trading centre, which left seven people dead. Police are questioning three suspects in connection with the incident. Ali said the police would spend any amount of money to get the killers.
"It is a criminal offence and everyone is concerned. We urge for public support in getting the raiders as police will use every resource available to get them," he said.
Two gang members who found her preparing dinner for her family attacked another victim, Ms Rosebella Nyakowa, who was admitted to Kitale District Hospital.
She said the gang demanded money from her, but when she said she did not have, they hit her with the gun butt, causing her head and chest injuries.
"I saw people running helter-skelter and before I realised what was happening, two people in police uniform stormed my house demanding money. They beat me up, but I was lucky they did not kill me," she said.
Her daughter, Ms Lilian Chebet witnessed the callous killing of three of their neighbours, who were shot by the gang.
"They shot our neighbours as they tried to escape. They were shooting at any moving object and they enjoyed every single bit of the action," she said.
Ali said police would reward anyone with information regarding the raiders and the two vehicles they used.
The vehicles, he said, were a double cabin pick-up and Peugeot 505 saloon car. The police chief explained ten raiders struck at 9 pm while armed with guns and crude weapons.
A security cordon was thrown around town
On Friday, anxious villagers recounted their traumatic experience as others started fleeing the area fearing another attack.
Relatives and friends of the bereaved and those injured streamed to the district hospital and Mount Elgon Hospital where the injured were admitted.
A security cordon was thrown around Kitale town, with entry and exit points sealed. Rift Valley Provincial Police Officer, Mr Everett Wasige, said the raiders had a political motive and linked the violence to the flare-up shortly to 1992 General Election.
"I will not go back to Nakuru until the gang is rounded up. I have a clear picture of their motive and this could be a spillover of Mount Elgon clashes," he said.
Political and religious leaders reacted angrily to the killings and blamed the Government for reluctance in fighting insecurity.
Kitale West District Commissioner Mr Francis Mutie and his Kitale East counterpart, I. Matata, confirmed the deaths, saying police were investigating.
They suspected that the gang could be members of Sabaot Land Defence Force and the killings could be a spill over from the Mt Elgon clashes.
"There is a possibility that gang that killed seven people in Kinyoro trading centre a week ago could be the same one. The gang seems to be well co-ordinated but we will have a break through," he said.
Government accused of reluctance to end insecurity
Orange Democratic Movement presidential aspirants, Mr William Ruto and Mr Najib Balala and Cabinet Minister, Dr Noah Wekesa condemned the killings and accused the Government of reluctance to end insecurity.
They demanded that the army be deployed to contain insecurity in Mt Elgon and Trans Nzoia to avoid reckless loss of lives.
"Why do we have the army in the barracks doing nothing while our people are being slaughtered like chicken? Let them be brought to keep peace," demanded Wekesa.
Ruto and Balala claimed the Government was out to create anarchy through insecurity to rig the December elections.
"This is an embarrassment and the Government is dragging its feet in fighting insecurity. It has lost the moral authority to govern," he said.
Balala said the move was likely to result in tribal clashes, which Kenyans are not prepared for.
Wekesa said he would next week seek audience with President Kibaki on the killings with a view of finding lasting solutions.
The latest killing happened hours after a team of detectives, who had been sent from Nairobi to track the Kinyoro attackers, left the area.
The team had spent a week hunting down the criminals. They recovered a vehicle used in committing the
offence.
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