Kisumu Governor Jack Ranguma and County Commissioner John Elungata have put on notice members of ‘40 Brothers’ gang terrorising residents.
Speaking during Mashujaa Day at Kenyatta sports grounds on Tuesday, they said the sect members have brought about instability in Kisumu and will face the full force of the law.
Ranguma said thugs will not be tolerated in Kisumu and warned them to surrender before the police go for them.
He said they are working closely with police to make Kisumu a 24-hour-economy by installing street lighting.
Elungata assured the residents that security has been beefed up in the town to weed out criminal activities.
He said more than 10 suspects believed to be members of the 40 Brothers’ gang in Kisumu town have been arrested.
“We have gunned down another of them and we are still trailing others in their hideouts. I want to tell them that very soon they will be no more,” Elungata said.
Seven suspected members of the gang were arrested last month by Quick Response Team (QRT) officers.
Two more suspects were on October 9 arrested during a police swoop lead by Superintendent Karanja Muiruri.
The gang believed to be operating from a base in Nyamasaria has been terrorising residents of Manyatta, Nyalenda, Mamboleo and Carwash.
He commended the public for working closely with police saying the suspects were arrested following a tip off from members of the public.
He said the suspects, believed to be hardcore criminals, were identified by their victims.
Elungata added that other suspects are being identified as police intensify the crackdown on the gang.
“We are encouraged that the public identified the suspects and we are still on with our operations to make sure Kisumu is secured from criminal activities,” he said.
Elungata said the national and county governments have put elaborate strategy in place to improve security in Kisumu.
Elungata said that though the crime rate has gone down in the region, some of the reported crimes have been proving difficult to prosecute.
He said that those who come reporting to police that they have been attacked or a crime has been committed somewhere later turn out to refuse police directive to become witnesses in the court of law concerning their cases.
He said that investigations showed that their declining being witnesses are as a result of threats by the sect.
Kisumu East MP Shakeel Shabir commended police for their efforts in taming the escalating insecurity in the region.
He praised the police for arresting the suspects terrorising innocent citizens.
Kisumu deputy governor Ruth Odinga and MCAs among other leaders attended the event.