Mombasa County Commissioner (CC), Mohamed Noor, has assured residents and tourists that the government has heightened security surveillance during the December and New Year festive season.
Noor reaffirmed the security agencies readiness to tackle the activities of criminal gangs in the coastal city and its environs.
The County Administrator assured residents and holidaymakers in the Port City that the security personnel would not relent in their efforts to checkmate the activities of criminal gangs’ planning to harass and terrorize the people.
He said there would be enhanced police presence in places such as shopping malls, beaches, tourist resorts and places of worship, where people throng during the festive holiday.
The CC disclosed that the authorities have tamed machete-wielding criminal gangs and drug peddlers that were on the prowl on the populous Kisauni and Likoni Sub-counties, following intensified and sustained police crackdowns.
“We have also recovered stolen items such as phones from the criminals and phone repair shops and we want to return these items to the rightful owners after proper identification,” he said.
Noor who was accompanied by the Mombasa Senator, Mohamed Faki, urged the public to volunteer information on suspicious looking people in their midst to the police, so as to nip crime in the bud.
He says the police will also remove street families, roadside beggars, hawkers and pickpockets from the Central Business District (CBD) for posing a security threat, besides negatively affecting vehicular traffic management.
CC says in the past there have been instances where a few of the street beggars, hawkers and street urchins, were discovered to be agents of daredevil criminals.
“We are cognizant of the fact that criminals posing as beggars, street urchins and hawkers, usually take advantage during the festive season to steal from the people and revelers,” he said, noting that the menace had reached an alarming dimension.
He says the multitude of beggars, who throng walkways, alleyways, street corners and religious centers, begging for alms have become an eyesore as well as security threat.
Noor who was addressing the media at the China Square Mombasa Branch, after meeting business people, has warned criminals in the coastal region, to end their nefarious activities or face the full wrath of the police.
The CC, who is also the Chairman of the County Security and Intelligence Committee, has announced intensified police patrols, to ensure an incident-free holiday season.
“As the December and New Year festivities beckon our efforts to tackle crime in Mombasa and its environs would be intensified to improve public safety,” said Noor and asked tourist hotels to also upscale their security arrangements, to ensure safety of guests during the holidays.
Mombasa Senator, Mohamed Faki, called for peaceful coexistence ahead of the crucial Christmas and New Year holidays.
Senator Faki appealed to the residents to embrace values of peace, love, compassion and empathy, not only during the festive seasons, but embody them throughout their lives.
Muslims for Human Rights (MUHURI) Rapid Response Officer, Francis Auma, called on the security agencies to continue to work hard, especially this critical festive season, to ensure that residents and visitors are safe and secure.
Auma says criminals were staging phone and purse snatching, muggings and robbing members of the public, tourists and motorists within the CBD and called for enhanced foot and mobile patrols by police officers in the affected areas.
He said business people in the CBD have reported a surge in burglaries and break-ins into business premises and called on the police to address this growing concern.
Feisal Abdalla, a community policing member in the Makadara area of Mombasa called for enhanced police patrols in the CBD to enhance public safety and protect businesses from the marauding gangs.
Peter Kiraa and Beatrice Wanjala who operate business stalls in the CBD say their small businesses are increasingly being targeted by criminals and shoplifters.
By Hussein Abdullahi
