Gem, Siaya County – July 11, 2025
Tensions flared in Gem constituency on Friday morning after an angry mob descended on the homestead of a murder suspect’s family, setting several houses ablaze and destroying crops. The mob, believed to be from Bar Kalare area, targeted the homes of the suspect’s close relatives in Kanyibuop village, Marenyo sublocation, torching the houses of his mother, uncle, and brother.
The action comes in the wake of growing public frustration over a series of brutal murders targeting young girls in the area, the most recent involving a dismembered body found in Sagam and Kachola villages.
Police from Gem Yala confirmed the attack, saying the mob arrived around 11 a.m. and unleashed destruction on property belonging to the suspect’s family, whom they blame for shielding a man believed to be behind the grisly killings. This incident follows an earlier arson attempt the previous night, in which the suspect’s mother’s house was partially burnt.
The suspect, whose name is being withheld pending formal charges, is believed to be behind the murder of a young girl whose body parts were discovered in disturbing circumstances — including an arm left inside a bar at Sagam trading center and another found in a nearby village.
Rising Murder Toll Alarms Local Leaders
Local leaders, including Gem MP Elisha Odhiambo and Siaya Woman Representative Dr. Christine Ombaka, have decried the worsening state of insecurity in the region and called for immediate deployment of elite police units to track down what is suspected to be a serial killer or a dangerous gang.
“We cannot continue this way,” said MP Odhiambo, speaking to the press in Mutumbu, Gem Yala. “I am appealing to all of us to volunteer information that can help us protect the public. The Inspector General must act urgently.”
Odhiambo revealed that he has held meetings with Siaya County security teams and called for the intervention of the Special Crimes Prevention Unit and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). He singled out Sagam, Sinaga, and East Gem as hotbeds of criminal activity where young girls are being systematically targeted.
“It is deeply worrying that innocent schoolgirls and women are being butchered while the police appear overwhelmed or distracted,” he added, criticizing local law enforcement for focusing more on illicit brew crackdowns than on serious crime.
Dr. Christine Ombaka echoed these concerns, demanding the deployment of a special police task force. “This disturbing trend of targeting young girls must stop. The community is living in fear. We need urgent intervention,” she said.
A Series of Gruesome Killings
The incident is just the latest in a horrifying pattern. Over the past two months:
- A Form 4 girl was defiled and killed in Mindhine.
- Another schoolgirl was murdered in Muhanda.
- Last week, Veronica Odongo, a widow, and Elizabeth Achieng, a Form Two student, were killed in East Gem.
- Human arms were found in Sagam and Kachola, believed to be from the same victim.
Authorities are urging the public to remain calm and avoid taking the law into their own hands as investigations continue.
