Human rights activists in Kisumu have petitioned the county security committee over the spate of insecurity.
They said it is the constitutional right of every Kenyan to be protected, and security is the responsibility of the government.
In a petition written and signed by human rights defender chairman Audi Ogada, they blamed police laxity to the increased crime.
“We cannot live as if we are in a jungle. Residents are being attacked day and night with the majority of victims nursing severe panga wounds apart from being robbed,” he said.
The petition was copied to county commissioner Josephine Ouko.
“It is very unfortunate that maximum security to residents is virtually an elusive dream to them in Kisumu at large for quite some time now,” Ogada said.
He pointed out that the increase of crime in Kisumu is a matter of growing concern to residents and the situation must be addressed without further delay.
“Rationally, we must strongly protest as this is purely attributed to the ineffectiveness of some police officers and the uncoordinated patrols,” Ogada said.
He said it was more worrying that despite frequent pleas to the police to arrest well known perpetrators, the pleas had fallen on deaf ears.
“Sadly, incidents of daily robberies and people being cut mercilessly are on the increase within Kisumu of late,” Ogada said.
The chairman cited Nyamasaria, Kajulu, Rabuor, Ofunyu, Ogango, Manyatta, Ouko Bridge, Kamakoha, Kanyakwar, Chiga, Kibos and Obunga as the worst hit.
Others include Migosi, Nyalenda, Lolwe, Poly View area, Nubian and Bus Park area.
“Essentially and authoritatively, the laxity, conflict of interest and alleged corruption by some officers have greatly contributed to the proliferation rate of crime and this can be proved by the number of complaints raised by the victims,” Ogada said.
He appealed to Ouko to take responsibility to develop an effective strategy to deal with grave matters of insecurity.
Ogada also questioned why the well known hot spots such as Kisumu East have no patrol vehicles to curb the insecurity.
“Why are most CID Officers very active in cases that are more related to civil and not pure criminal ones? Why are some of these police stations and posts not well armoured?” he said.
He also demanded an explanation why some clear cases take much longer for the Police to act.
He told the Kisumu county security committee to take their functions and mandate seriously and with impartiality in ensuring that Kisumu is a secure place.
