Kakamega governor Wycliffe Oparanya has vowed to transfer all police officer stationed at the Matungu Sub-county following a spate of attacks that has seen tens of innocent residents hacked to death.
In the latest attack by a group of killers christened “42 Brothers”, the gang stormed into a pregnant woman’s homestead and hacked her to death before descending on her crying three-year-old daughter who they also killed.
The woman’s husband and her eldest daughter are fighting for their lives at the Kakamega County Referral Hospital after sustaining deep panga cuts.
The gang raided the home shortly after dark armed with crude weapons and machetes.
The attack was the tenth of its kind in under a month, with Matungu MP, Justus Murunga and governor Oparanya calling for the immediate transfer of police in the constituency.
The attacks that happened in Sayangwe village have since moved the county commissioner, Abdiruzak Jaldesa, into action.
“We have agreed that all the police officers stationed in Matungu will be replaced by a new team by Tuesday morning,” a startled Oparanya disclosed to the local residents.
Police reported that a residents had earlier lynched a suspected member of the gang, prompting a retaliation move.
In March alone, six night guards were slaughtered in the dead of the night in Emuhaya, while another four were killed in Khwisero.
Between September last year and January of 2018, some 14 people were killed in Butere.
The deadly gang is believed to be operating in the dead of the night, and does not take hostages with them.
The group of armed men are responsible for the killings and rape in the area.
Police commander Jaldesa has said security will be revamped in the area, urging residents to keep peaceful as police patrols will be the order of the night in the area.