Two killed in fresh Madogo clan clashes

Local leaders and community elders in Madogo, Tana River county have urged residents to help solve rising cases of crime and stop blame games.

This follows inter-community conflicts, which started after a man was killed by criminals during a robbery incident and in retaliation, another person was killed a day later.

Traders are also counting losses because over the past one week, there has been minimal business activities as fears spread across the town, forcing people to retire to their houses early.

Madogo MCA Juma Ali urged the residents to treat criminals as individuals and stop blaming actions by one person to an entire innocent community.

“Over the past few days, we have had tensions in Madogo because there was someone who was murdered and days later, another person was also killed. These incidents should not bring tribalism in our communities here, because those people were killed by criminals and not a certain tribe,” he said.

“There are criminals everywhere and when a criminal kills someone, it is not the tribe of the criminal that has killed, but rather the individual criminal himself. We want the government to do thorough investigations and arrest those crooks."

 Abdirahman Abadiba, a Munyoyaya community elder in Madogo blamed some parents for overlooking their children’s suspicious activities and protecting them when caught in criminal activities.

He said there are many children in the area who have dropped out of school and joined criminal gangs, but their parents have done very little in taking them back to school or warning them against engaging in crime.

“If your child is in school but before he gets to class eight drops-out of school and starts robbing people in the streets and bringing those stolen items to you but instead of questioning the source of the items, you embrace everything,” Abadiba pondered.

“I urge all communities here to co-exist peacefully and stop discriminating against people on the basis of tribe, race or religion. We cannot attract or maintain investors here, if we keep fighting each other and we will lag behind in development,” he added.   

Madogo area has been facing a high crime rate orchestrated by a criminal gang, popularly known as kayole.

 Young people, some aged as low as 12 years old, have been welding knives, rungus and machetes, terrorising citizens by robbing them of their valuables and even breaking into houses.