From left: Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho and MPs Rashid Bedzimba (Kisauni) Abdulswamad Nassir (Mvita) and Mishi Mboko (woman rep) at a past event in Mombasa. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
Two MPs have linked increasing cases of crime in Mombasa to negligence on the part of residents and parents who they say support the vice.
Rashid Bedzimba (Kisauni, ODM) and Mishi Mboko (woman representative) said Mombasa inhabitants no longer take crime fight seriously leading to a rise in the number of immoral cases.On Sunday, one of the town’s residents, Mohamed Bocha was lynched and killed by a mob in Old Town after a long pursuit by police.Bocha was said to be in the list of Mombasa police’s most wanted criminals.“When I was young, we would sleep in verandas or outside our houses,” Bedzimba, a former General Service Unit officer said on Monday.“But today you can’t risk doing that. Kids armed with knives and machetes freely move around terrorising people and you wonder what went wrong.”Mombasa County Commissioner Evans Achoki said on Sunday police were tracking suspected criminals said to be running a ring of gangs particularly in Nyali, Changamwe, Old Town and Kisauni.He said the gangs have accomplices in neighbouring counties where they run hiding when police heighten hunt for them.Mishi said parents had failed in their role of mentoring young people into morally upright citizens.Mishi who is challenging long time politician Masoud Mwahima for the Likoni MP seat said concerted efforts need to be instituted to contain crime in Mombasa, a town whose economy flourishes on tourism before it’s too late.“You meet young people leaving home late in the evening,” she said.“They return home with goodies and no parent questions them well knowing that they are unemployed.”The legislators expressed willingness to join police and other stakeholders in initiating steps that will help fight criminality in Kenya’s second largest city.