Garissa County Commissioner Mohamed Mwabudzo has a word with
Garissa Deputy Governor Abdi Dagane.
Garissa county commissioner Mohamed Mwabudzo has issued a stern warning to criminal gangs terrorising residents, saying the government will deal with them firmly.
He said security agencies have made significant progress and arrested suspects linked to muggings, stabbings and robbery with violence.
“So bad is the situation that a day hardly passes by without reports of attacks,” Mwabudzo said.
“Victims are often left nursing serious injuries or in some cases, dead. The crimes are being committed by youths, mostly between the ages of 15 and 25.”
He spoke during Mashujaa Day celebrations at Kunaso ground in Garissa town.
The county commissioner warned that the government will not tolerate lawlessness, threatening peace in the region.
“We have small boys between the age of 15 and 25 who are terrorising members of the public and robbing them of their valuables. We will not allow this. The government will not tolerate criminal elements disrupting the peace and security of our communities,” he said.
Mwabudzo directed all chiefs, assistant county commissioners and deputy county commissioners to work closely with security agencies to identify, arrest and charge those behind the crimes.
“From today, it is the responsibility of chiefs and other local administrators
to tame rising crime and restore order in our villages,” he said.
The commissioner also urged parents and guardians to take responsibility for their children, warning that the surge in youth crime was a reflection of moral decay at the family level.
“I urge parents to rise to the occasion. The home is the first institution of
discipline and moral values,” Mwabudzo said.
He dismissed unemployment as an excuse for crime, warning that offenders would have only themselves to blame when caught.
Mwabudzo urged residents to cooperate with security agencies by
reporting suspicious individuals, saying public vigilance is key to restoring
safety.
Garissa Deputy Governor Abdi Dagane urged community members to unite against rising insecurity. He condemned parents who rush to secure the release of their children whenever they are arrested, saying such actions are undermining efforts to restore order.
“It cannot be business as usual when criminals go about terrorising innocent
wananchi. That is not the Garissa we want,” he said.
The warnings come in the wake of a brutal killing of Hillary Ochieng, a lecturer at Garissa Teachers Training College, who was stabbed to death in Bula Mzuri last week.
Witnesses said Ochieng, who also operated a boda boda business, was attacked by two young men posing as clients.
One stabbed him in the chest before fleeing without taking anything.
He was rushed to the Garissa County
Referral Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Police said at least 10 people have
been attacked in the past five days, mostly on the outskirts of Garissa town and investigations are ongoing.
