Goon paradise: Who will save Kenyans?

President William Ruto’s regime is rapidly pushing the country into a darker chapter of uncertainties, fear, injuries and death as the government surrenders the security of the country to goons,  embedding violence and intimidation into the country’s security landscape through state protection and financial architecture.

The goons have become emboldened, and Kenyans are on their own. Not even the tears of grieving mothers, the trauma of school-going children stoned by goons, or a church altar rubbished by goons is moving the security apparatus. What was once frowned upon by many is now an integral part of society as goons take over the political and economic landscape. 

President Ruto and members of his security team, however, have turned a blind eye to the suffering of Kenyans at the hands of goons. Instead, they are beating war drums, threatening unspecified consequences to Kenyans planning to protest against the government to mark the June 25th anniversary next week. Two years ago, they used the platform to unleash the dragon of goonism. Will it be a repeat?

The seeds of extremism, intolerance, and felonious tactics they planted in 2024, when government operatives hired goons to help police officers contain Gen Z protestors and gave them police protection as they wreaked havoc across the country, have sprouted into a lethal poison. The frequency of attacks has increased tenfold, but government response has been reduced to a public relations show to mask the bystander effect and deception cascading through the UDA administration's spine. This week alone, The Sunday Standard has documented at least six incidents involving goons.

Abetted by a steady flow of cash handouts and protection from politicians and government operatives, observers believe the goonism problem is no longer a secret but a clearly planned intervention the government has carefully stitched into its operations manual to contain rivals. Politicians, too, have joined the fray, embedding goonism in their campaign plans against opponents.

Each day that passes, the gangs appear to be growing bolder as the country teeters into a self-destruct mode. Fragmented village vigilantes that once resurfaced during political seasons have reemerged as organized political gangs for hire, consolidating their power and influence as political and economic brokers through violence.

They say the fall of Haiti to organized criminal gangs did not happen in a day, and if that statement is true, then Kenyans have a reason to worry. 

"There is every indication that the goons are owned by the state. That way, they are able to do the things which the state will not take responsibility for but which benefit the state," says Strategic and Political Communications Consultant Barack Muluka.

Within a span of just a few months, the political goons have morphed into gangs for hire, permeating every aspect of life, attacking churches, settlements, and evicting homeowners, and at times under the supervision of police officers. Arrests have been scarce and cosmetic. The public relations show on the police social media pages and from statements by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has heightened.

Yesterday, as Kenyans were still struggling to come to terms with the shooting of three people in Kuresoi North, in an event where goons clashed, another set of goons attacked Nairobi’s Kwa Njoroge Slum at 4 a.m, while in the company of police officers. According to residents, the goons hurled teargas canisters at the slums.

Advocate of the High Court and political analyst Clifford Obiero believes the attacks are well planned and are orchestrated by organized and financed groups deployed to achieve political objectives that uniformed police officers bound by law and accountability cannot openly undertake.

"It stretches beyond credulity to suggest that ordinary citizens would spontaneously mobilize to attack peaceful activists, students or citizens. The recurring pattern raises legitimate questions about who organizes, funds and protects such groups," he observes.

Yesterday, the school bursar of Chemelil Academy was still nursing machete wounds as other teachers also struggled with injuries after an attack by goons at the institution that left ten people with injuries.

The bizarre incident occurred at around midday on Thursday as parents arrived with their children, who were reporting back to school after a week-long half-term break.

School principal Abisai Samora stated that a group of about 20 armed men stormed the school, attacking everyone on site before breaking into offices and stealing valuables.

“Goons numbering about 20 people broke into the school armed with pangas, arrows and bows,” Samora said. “They visited mayhem upon parents, students and staff. They broke into offices, destroying and stealing properties ranging from mobile phones, money and other valuables.”

Under Ruto’s watch, not even places that were once considered sacred are immune from goon attacks. The country has moved into a darker chapter of goon rule as the government claps in the background, outsourcing rogues to create havoc aided by a deep financial architecture.

Last week, hired goons who were reportedly paid Sh2,000 spat on the altar of All Saints Cathedral and attacked worshippers and Kenyans who had turned up for a forum to discuss the Finance Bill.

But as this happens, the government that Kenyans expect to be at the forefront in taming the problems has turned a blind eye. Not even the pain of mothers mourning kin lost to goon violence or victims nursing injuries or innocent learners attacked is moving the Ruto regime.

Here, tagging along with goons to political events has become one of the key items in the checklists of politicians. 

Critics believe the government has become an active enabler of goonism by protecting the goons. In some of the cases, police have been captured watching from a distance as goons attacked opponents or patrolled streets while chanting pro-Ruto slogans. For instance, during the attack in Kuresoi North on Friday, a video that has since gone viral in social media shows a group of goons hurling stones at an opposing group, as a voice in the background urges the goons to stop, claiming that police officers are on their side.

"You cannot tell me that goonism is operating the way they are operating, yet we have a functional National Police Service, Intelligence Service, and department of police investigations... It will plunge the country into anarchy, " says constitutional lawyer Ndegwa Njiru.  

In Western, the problem has reached a disturbing level where funerals and public gatherings are increasingly turning into scenes of violence. A similar scene replicating across Nyanza and parts of Rift Valley.

This has raised difficult questions about the financiers and organisers behind what residents now call “goonism” and whether they are too powerful to be held accountable.

The latest incident that occurred last weekend, which left several schoolchildren injured, has intensified public anger.

On June 13, a Biyenya School bus carrying pupils returning from a music festival was attacked along the Mumias–Bungoma Road near Harambee.

The vehicle was stoned by unidentified assailants in what authorities and residents believe was a case of mistaken identity linked to rival political factions operating in the area. The attack reportedly occurred moments after United Opposition leaders had held a rally at Harambee Market, raising suspicions of political linkage.

Witnesses described scenes of panic as shattered glass filled the bus as terrified children screamed for help amid falling glass.

“They were innocent children. Nobody knew why they were being targeted. It was chaos everywhere,” said one teacher who was aboard the bus.

The attack came just days after another wave of violence in Mumias, where school buses were damaged and a police officer was injured during confrontations involving rival political gatherings.

Governor Fernandes Barasa has increasingly found himself at the centre of Kakamega’s turbulent political environment, where competition for influence has frequently spilled into public confrontations involving rival leaders and their supporters.

Although he has dismissed claims linking him to goonism, rivals have accused him of being among the leaders abetting the culture in Kakamega. Last week, DCP deputy party leader Cleophas Malala wrote to the Inspector General of Police, accusing the county chief of promoting violence in the region.

At many funerals and public functions across Kakamega, residents describe a troubling and almost routine pattern where groups of youths—some carrying sticks, others armed with machetes or crude weapons, and many dressed in matching or intimidating outfits.

They are said to move freely among mourners while chanting political slogans and identifying themselves through buttons, scarves or coloured regalia linked to different political camps.

“They walk in groups, shouting, pushing people aside. You can even see them pointing at individuals. Everyone knows what might happen next, but nobody stops them,” said a resident, John Makokha, who attended a recent chaotic burial in Mutungu.

In some cases, the youths are said to arrive before senior leaders, take strategic positions around tents, roads and entry points, and then gradually begin chanting or provoking rival groups once opposing supporters arrive.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli also vowed action following the weekend Kakamega bus attack, saying security agencies were already tracing individuals behind a pattern of coordinated assaults targeting civilians and public gatherings.

“We are treating these incidents as organised criminal activity disguised as political mobilisation,” Masengeli stated.

Yet no arrests have been made, with notorious goons roaming the towns of Kakamega and Mumias, ready to strike when hired.

In April in Ikolomani, mourners were attacked during the burial of Kakamega Polytechnic Principal Caroline Khamete, with rival groups allegedly linked to different political camps clashing and destroying property.

The police have not recorded any statements from politicians whom residents say are well known to move around with dangerous goons. The situation mirrors in Nyanza, Gusii region, parts of Rift Valley, Nairobi and Mount Kenya region where goons for hire has become a lucrative business even as Kenyans suffer.

On Friday, President Ruto threatened not to allow protestors to disrupt the country next week.

newsdesk@standardmedia.co.ke

Additional reporting by Anne Atieno, Mary Imenza and Brian Kisanji