By Reporter
Finally, Homa Bay is returning to factory reset after years of goons’ blackmail, manipulation, extortion, harassment, intimidation and violent acts.
The ongoing police crackdown on the goons and crooks in Homa Bay Town has breathed a sigh of relief in the business community, county employees, residents, motorists, hotels, clubs and the political class.
In Homa Bay, the emergence of teenage goons was setting a wrong precedent for insecurity in the town, with young adults being driven into the sector as the easiest way to make money.
The arrest and subsequent arraignment of the ‘chief goon’ Abdi Sebo and his allies have gradually restored peace and business in the county and town.
Teen goons
An investigation by Western Insight in Homa Bay revealed that teens as young as those in Class Three were being recruited into gangs in the town.
One mother, whose name was withheld, was taken aback after her son, a Standard Three boy, refused to eat and cried overnight because their leader had been arrested by the police.
The mother was shocked when the lad took her to the place’s gym, where they train, and explained that after training, the leaders usually provide them with bhang and Sh200 as pocket money every Friday.
“I saw the chest of my son bulging. I didn’t know he was weightlifting until he took me to where they train. He was open with me that they have been introduced to smoking and drinking alcohol and that the leaders usually give them Sh200 every Friday,” she said.
The boy is one of several teens from Homa Bay’s sprawling slums who have been recruited into gangs in the area.
County staff
Most of the Homa Bay County staff, especially those in enforcement, bore the wrath of the goons, who terrorised them whenever they arrested public service vehicles that were breaking traffic rules.
The county lost hundreds of thousands of shillings in revenue from public service vehicle operators, as they paid protection fees instead of the daily fees charged by the county.
After the arrest of Abdi, the officers returned and arrested several traffic offenders, challenging them to go and report to Abdi and his gang.
The county staff have, in most cases, been forced to part with money to avoid harassment by the goons or avoid the routes or places they frequent to escape being taxed.
Clubs and hotels
These facilities bore the wrath of the goons, who terrorised clients by demanding that they be bought food and alcohol.
Most clients avoided Homa Bay facilities and instead opted for Migori, Kisii and Kisumu, where they were not harassed and intimidated.
Silent curfew
The ongoing crackdown and arrest of the goons, together with night patrols by the police, have forced most of the goons to either relocate to Kisumu or Nairobi to avoid arrest.
Most of the goons who managed the stages have since disappeared and left for unknown destinations.
Security at night has improved, with no incidents of harassment and intimidation by the goons.
Abdi arrest
Police in Homa Bay have so far arrested 40 suspected goons who staged a protest in Homa Bay Town on Thursday night and looted several business premises when Kassim Abdi was arrested.
Following the arrest of Abdi and seven other members of his team, police and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers have been conducting day and night raids in various estates in Homa Bay Town to apprehend a group of youths accused of looting and damaging property on Thursday night.
Homa Bay County Police Commander Lawrence Koilem says the 40 suspects were arrested between Friday and Sunday in the ongoing police operation to restore sanity in Homa Bay Town.
Gyms
In Homa Bay, gyms have become the focal points of meetings for the goons, where they train and plot their missions. The majority of teens and youths in Homa Bay go to gyms to identify with the gang leaders.
Monied
Most of the gang leaders own rental houses and businesses in the town. It is through such income and payments from politicians that they have remained financially endowed and maintained control over the youths.
What Abdi and allies’ arrest means
For the political class, the arrests have deflated and exposed them, as they can no longer terrorise and cause mayhem.
With months to go before the next general election, the government has disabled the political class’s goon apparatus and could eradicate rampant political thuggery in the county.
