Return of machete gangs in Mombasa shocks residents

The dark scar running diagonally across his forehead tells the story Arnest Muthoka will carry for life.

As a theatre nurse in Mombasa, his ordeal with a machete-wielding gang in Likoni on October 13, 2014, changed everything.

It was around 5am, and Muthoka was heading to his work station at Nyali Children’s Hospital when five young men, armed with machetes, attacked him just outside the gates of Ushindi Baptist Church.

That same day, the gang—known as the “Forty Brothers”—had already claimed three lives elsewhere in Likoni. While Muthoka survived, the encounter left him scarred in more ways than one.

“Since the attack, I’ve faced countless challenges,” he says.

“I lost vision in my left eye, and part of my face is paralysed. I suffer from seizures and flashes of vision problems. The attackers were familiar faces—young men notorious in the area,” he adds.

Muthoka recalls hearing the voices of his assailants and recognising one as a repeat offender. Despite multiple arrests, some of these criminals walk free, he claims, a fact compounded by the unwillingness of locals to come forward due to fear of retaliation.

The persistence of machete gangs in Mombasa, like the “Forty Brothers”, has become a grim hallmark of the region. Residents blame lax parenting, alleging that some parents remain oblivious to their children’s whereabouts. “Many parents fail to check if their children are actually in school,” one resident observed during a security baraza in Kisauni.

“Some boys spend days on the streets, practicing how to rob.”

But it’s not just poor parenting. Intelligence reports suggest a more insidious dynamic—these gangs are often funded and protected by wealthy drug barons and influential politicians.

A local detective disclosed that the gangs are tools for dirty business, used to intimidate, silence, or even force the transfer of security officers who interfere with their operations.

“The gangs thrive in chaos,” the detective said.

“Frequent attacks lead to constant police transfers, making it harder for new officers to adapt and counter these criminal networks. Meanwhile, drug barons flourish in the disarray.”

Violent attacks

He reveals that those who wield power in the Port City of Mombasa and beyond always want to control the security teams. As a result, officers who refuse to “toe the line” are  met with rampant insecurity that subsequently force their transfer.

Early this month, eight members of a notorious machete-wielding gang linked  to a series of attacks in  Bamburi, Mombasa, were arrested.

They were arrested in  Kijipwa, Kilifi County, following an ambush in the Bombo, Kisauni. The suspects have been linked to a series of violent attacks in Bamburi. During the arrest, police recovered pangas, mobile phones, and other stolen items from the scene.

Also last week,  police officers from Mjambere Police Station in Kisauni Sub-County apprehended 14 additional suspects affiliated with the machete-wielding gang.

The nabbed suspects namely Clinton Nyaga, 25; David Nyaga, 25; Rashid Lugwe, 25; Juma Safari, 20; Benjamin Dickson, 24; Ayub Koech, 18; Hamisi Dzombo, 25; Brian Dickson, 18; Fadhili Hamisi, 18; Juma Nyale, 25; Saidi Hamisi, 23; Ali Swale, 19; Ali Yusuf, 19; and Rajab Bakari, 18, were smoked out of their hideout in Junda Kasarani Ndogo, following intelligence provided by members of the public.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen acknowledged the alarming spread of organised gangs across Kenya, particularly in urban and densely populated areas.

 Speaking during the launch of the Administration Police Service Roadmap, Murkomen confirmed that some politicians finance the criminal groups to disrupt peace and security.

The gangs are everywhere across the country. In Nairobi, groups like Team Kazoo and Jeshi la Allah terrorise Kamukunji and Starehe.

Mungiki resurgence

In Kibra, J-10 holds sway, while the Taliban dominates Embakasi. Mombasa hosts gangs like Team Mashamba, Wakali Kwanza and Panga Boys.

Central Kenya has seen the resurgence of the Mungiki, now extorting matatu operators and business owners. Western Kenya faces Angola Msumbiji, Spartan Boys, and the Forty Brothers.

Murkomen noted that many of these gangs began with seemingly noble intentions but morphed into criminal enterprises. Mungiki, for example, started as a cultural movement in the late 1980s before becoming one of the most feared criminal groups in the 2000s. Its reign of terror left scars on communities, with youth wasting years in crime, imprisonment, or worse.

The CS has issued orders to dismantle these groups and prosecute those involved, including the politicians funding them. “The price of inaction is catastrophic,” Murkomen said, emphasising the need for robust intelligence gathering, public awareness, and prosecutorial efforts.

In response to rising insecurity, the government is deploying a new National Government Administration Police Unit (Ngapu).

With an initial rollout of 6,000 officers, the unit aims to bolster the grassroots security, resolve conflicts, and dismantle organised crime.

Ngapu will also work to curb illicit activities like the brewing of illegal alcohol, which has been a significant challenge in some regions in the country.

Mombasa elders recall a time when similar gangs plagued the region. Groups like Kongo By Force and Kaya Bombo sowed chaos in the past, but decisive action by former President Daniel Moi’s regime wiped them out.

Residents like Gasper Kombo, 50, believe a similar approach is needed today.

“Moi used GSU and those gangs were eliminated quickly with the help of community security units,” he says. “We need the same resolve now.”