By Tobias Ogutu
Ask anyone from Nyalenda A Ward, Kisumu County, about the Black Pearl Club, and the first thing you will hear is, “Hapo Panga itakukata shingo hata saa moja jioni.” This means that in that area, you can be attacked by people armed with machetes as early as seven in the evening.
The next thought that will linger in your mind is how attackers can carry out their malicious activities as early as seven in the morning. You shouldn’t ask yourself if this is possible; what should trouble you is how it is possible and continues to happen despite Nyamasaria Police Post being less than two hundred meters away. This clearly highlights the level of insecurity faced by residents of Nyamasaria, Kisumu County.
The residents of Nyamasaria, particularly those around the Black Pearl Club area, are facing significant security challenges. A group of criminals operating in this neighborhood aims to rob people. Willis Otieno, one of the victims, recounts how he was attacked by five youths wielding machetes and robbed of all his belongings after being severely cut. According to Willis, it was half past seven in the evening when a motorbike carrying five youths stopped a few meters ahead of him on his way home. Suddenly, as he was about to pass them, he was ambushed and left for dead, only to wake up the next morning in a hospital bed.
The issue of insecurity in the Black Pearl areas is well known, even to the County Commissioner. However, this challenge has remained unresolved for many years. If any solutions have been implemented, they have been temporary. Police officers at Nyamasaria Police Post do not patrol these high-risk areas and, therefore, do not contribute effectively to addressing the problem.
Research conducted by most residents indicates that the criminals may be lingering around the club as ordinary customers. After having a bottle or two, they resume their activities of targeting people, robbing them, and inflicting physical harm. Most of the victims are intoxicated individuals who come from the Black Pearl Club.
The residents are asking: What role does the police post at Nyamasaria play if attacks still occur as early as seven in the evening? They now demand that the police patrol this dangerous area, which is notorious throughout the county, to effectively counter the criminals operating there.
