Busia locals in fear after Kenyan gang raids village, kills resident

A Ugandan, who was abducted from his home in Mugungu Village, Busia town and taken across the border by a machete-wielding gang from Kenya, has been found dead.

Mr Andre Lomilo Husim was on September 6 taken hostage and his body, which bore multiple stab wounds and abrasions, was discovered by Kenya Police the following day near Kiwanja-Ndege in Busia-Kenya and taken to Busia-Kenya County Referral Hospital mortuary.

Bukedi South Police Spokesperson, Mr Moses Mugwe, said boda boda riders from Kenya crossed into Uganda through porous border points and pursued the deceased who was suspected to have stolen their motorcycle.

“The riders were few and took advantage of the porous border and the proximity of Lomilo’s house, which is about 150 meters from the Uganda-Kenya border,” Mr Mugwe said on Saturday, September 13.

Police sources in Busia District, however, said the deceased was a career criminal who had allegedly been behind a spate of motorcycle thefts in Kenya and Uganda. “That is why he was killed,” the source said.

Questions are being raised how a machete-wielding gang riding on motorcycles crossed from Kenya, abducted a Ugandan, took him to Kenya and murdered him without detection from border security.

The attackers, who are said to have rode on 20 motorcycles, are believed to have crossed into Uganda through one of the porous borders and abducted their victim.

Ms Maria Kodet, the deceased’s wife, said on that fateful day, the attackers, riding “close to 20 motorcycles”, raided their home slightly after 11pm as the family slept, and gained access to their one-roomed house by smashing the door using a “heavy stone”.

She added that after the door flung open, she could hear the gang asking her husband for a motorcycle as they brandished machetes and sticks.

“When he denied having any knowledge of the said motorcycle, they beat him up,” Ms Kodet recalled, adding that one of the hooded men reportedly pulled her out of bed and ordered her to sit in one of the corners of their room.

At this point, according to Ms Kodet, her husband tried to protest, asking why he was being roughed up, prompting the group to forcefully pull him out of the room onto one of the getaway motorcycles.

“My husband tried calling for help as he was being taken away, but his attackers started hooting and making a lot of noise which should have confused the residents,” Ms Kodet said, adding that the entire ordeal lasted less than ten minutes.

Once in Kenya, the deceased is said to have been tied to the carrier of one of the motorcycles and rolled on the Busia-Kenya tarmac up to Kiwanja-Ndege where he was killed and his body dumped.

Residents, however, say the deceased was not a thief but a hawker of utensils; while the wife says on that fateful day, her husband spent that entire day at home complaining of general body weakness and “looked sick”.

The Mugungu Village defense secretary, Mr Fred Wandera, said the group was carrying machetes and sticks, making it difficult for residents to intervene. “The gang is said to have suspected the deceased of being behind the theft of a motorcycle from Kenya,” he said.

Following the raid, residents are living in fear, saying this was the second time the gang had unsuccessfully come to the village pursuing their targets. “There is fear; we are told that the gang has a list of Ugandans they want to abduct and kill over said motorcycle thefts.”

Another Ugandan only identified as Wandera, who is believed to have been taken hostage by the same gang, is nursing severe injuries after being rescued by Kenya Police.

Wandera, a resident of Marachi Village in Busia municipality, was reportedly being lynched on that same night Lomilo met his death but was rescued in time by Kenya Police and taken to Busia-Kenya County Referral Hospital where he was admitted with severe multiple body injuries.

Mugungu, which is one of the furthest villages from Busia town, borders Kenya and has several porous routes that connect to Marachi Village on the Kenyan side.

Monitor established that whereas border checkpoints in Sofia and Marachi Villages were both being manned by up to eight police officers, several porous routes only had a local council official keeping watch.

Busia District stretches for 57 kilometers towards Majanji and Malaba river along the Kenya border, with close to 200 porous border routes, with several barely being manned by security officers due to low staff gaps.

For the past two years, motorcycle thefts and murders of boda boda riders have been the worst cross-border crimes in Busia District.

Since the beginning of this year, at least ten boda boda riders have been killed and robbed of their motorcycles.

Ms Alice Kuka, the newly-posted Busia District Police Commander said she has been briefed about the crime wave involving theft and attacks on motorcycle riders.

She added that suspects have been arrested, arraigned in court and remanded to prison, and is laying out plans with the district security team aimed at stamping out the criminality.