Residents of Maragua division in Murang’a south sub county are up in arms calling on security agents and the local administration to move swiftly and address the rising cases of insecurity, so as to restore sanity and peace in the area.
The angry residents who had convened for a security baraza in maragua town, took a swipe at the security agents for their laxity in helping solve the distressing cases of murder, sodomy, theft, burglary and blatant sale and abuse of drugs.
However, key security officers refrained from attending the forum, attended by the area Member of parliament Mary Wamaua, citing political interference.
“Two weeks ago, my grandchild was defiled and murdered, and thrown into Githanji river even as we bury her on Thursday, no one has been brought to book for that heinous act and justice has not been served yet,” said Anna Muthoni, the deceased’s grandmother.
“A week after that incident a man was found murdered right in this town and the mystery is yet to be resolved,” she added.
The residents lamented over a series of other distressing cases, noting that despite making numerous reports to the police, no arrests had been made so far.
Mary Wanjiru’s family has also been a victim of the lawlessness and while they are yet to get closure over the death of their brother in October last year, she notes that their search for justice has been frustrated by the very people who are supposed to uphold it.
“My brother was murdered and nobody informed us because even his body was taken to the morgue without our knowledge and when we went to enquire on what transpired the officers frustrated our efforts to find justice,” she decried.
An elderly man, James Mwangi also narrated how he was attacked, as he went home at around 8pm and was lucky to be alive, though he sustained cuts to his neck during the ordeal at Reli area, maragua town a few months ago.
“There are ex-prisoners who have been integrated back to the community, and we suspect they are some of the people committing these crimes, a follow up after serving jail terms is paramount,” he said.
Meanwhile, the area MP took a swipe at the security agents over their failure to attend the security forum noting that the move shows a clear disregard for the community’s safety concerns and a lack of accountability on their part.
Wamaua claimed that her calls to the County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha went unanswered, while the area Deputy county commissioner Gitonga Murungi noted that he was held up in a different security meeting at the same time.
She noted that many people had been victims to the lawlessness being experienced and it was time for the security agencies to resolve the murders.
“Last year, four children were burnt alive in their house in gakoigo, later on several people have been killed and as we speak some men are hospitalized as a result of being sodomized, this is unacceptable as the perpetrators of these actions are known,” she said, adding that illicit brews and bhang were being sold openly, even in shops and this has further catalyzed the insecurity situation.
Wamaua decried the laxity on the part of the security agents calling on the president to intervene and ensure the residents who are taxpayers have a peaceful and safe environment to carry out their daily activities and earn a livelihood.
Responding to the claims that they had skipped the security meeting, the Murang’a south Deputy County commissioner reiterated that the security agents were committed to ensuring that all the perpetrators of the heinous crimes were brought to book and that is why they had convened the public forum in the first place.
However, according to Murungi their plans to attend the meeting changed last minute upon learning that the area member of parliament had embarked on organizing for a parallel security meeting at the same venue.
“It was never our intention to skip the meeting but when it became politicized, we decided to call it off and reconvene at a later date to address the insecurity issue,” he said.
“Security meetings are a mandate for the Subcounty security team and we are in the process of organizing for another meeting,” he said.
Admittedly, the Deputy County Commissioner noted that the insecurity issue in the area lies deeper and is more of a societal degradation and solving the menace, will require concerted efforts from all quarters, more so from the members of the community themselves.
“We had an incident, whereby a parent locked in her four very young children in the house, only for us to receive reports that a house was burning and helpless children had been locked inside,” he noted.
Other recorded incidents border on domestic quarrels ending tragically, and I can assure you that as the security team, we are doing everything we can to address them by partnering with the society, so as to get to the bottom of it effectively and conclusively, added Murungi.
By Florence Kinyua
