A lot of bad things have happened in Kitengela in the recent past – dragging the beautiful name of the previously quiet neighborhood in the dust.
Residents of Kitengela – which is known and loved for it’s ‘Nyama Choma’ – are beginning to live in fear – with parents constantly on the lookout for their young children growing up in the town.
“This is no longer the quiet, serene town I grew up in. It has changed into a monster that continues to snap away precious life of young men and women,” said David Njoroge, a resident of Kitengela since 2010.
Davids sentiments are shared by Anne Musyoka a mother of three.
She says: “Our town as grown, but the rapid growth has attracted criminals and all manner of activities. I have three small children, and already I am thinking of moving to different town. Our children are not even safe,” Musyoka told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
The town which begun as The Kitengela group ranch in 1988 with the aim of intensifying and commercializing livestock production has seen number of people residents grow – with many families relocating to the area because of it’s serenity.
Fading beauty
That beauty, however, seems to be fading away as it slowly becomes the new murder and kidnappings capital.
The lives of the four young men who have since been identified as Mike George Onduso, 29, and Nicholas Kyengo Musa, 28 alongside two brothers; sound engineer Victor Mwangi Wanjiru, 25, and graphics designer Fredrick Mureithi Wanjiru, 30, were cut shot after being falsely accused of stealing livestock.
The four were lynched at dawn and their three motorcycles torched by their attackers.
There are claims that a fight may have ensued between the four and a villager who is said to have invited a group of people to attack the four young men using spear, before claiming that they were livestock thieves.
Kitengela four
In April 2020, four young men, popularly referred to as THE KITENGELA FOUR, were reportedly kidnapped in Kitengela town before being driven to an unknown location where they were beaten and killed.
Their bodies would later be found in Muranga, several kilometres from Kitengela. The body of Elijah Obuong, 35, and Benjamin Imbayi were both retrieved by police from different locations on Thursday, 29 April and identified by family at two morgues.
Obuong’s body was recovered while stuffed in a sack near Mathioya river in Muranga while the body of 30 year-old Imbayi was positively identified at General Kago Funeral Home in Thika.
The body of Brian Oduor was discovered in Murang’a on Saturday, evening, May 1. His hand was missing, possibly chopped off. The body of Jack Anyago is yet to be recovered five months later.
Another incident
In yet another incident, five men masquerading as police officers were beaten to a pulp in Kitengela on August 14, 2021.
The five are said to have abducted a middle-aged man whom police identified as identified Charles Semo for not wearing a mask, and forced him into a car and attempted to speed off.
The victim is said to have shouted for help – at which point angry residents among them boda boda riders intervened – saving the man from his captors.
The mob vandalised the vehicle and beat the five before they were rescued by the police.
These and many more incidents have hurt the image of Kitengela town.