A Kisumu human rights activist has petitioned the National Assembly and Senate to urgently intervene over what he describes as a rapidly deteriorating security situation in the lakeside city.
Kisumu City Residents Voice chairman Audi Ogada has warned that continued inaction could embolden criminal gangs and further endanger lives.
The petition submitted by Ogada has been addressed to the parliamentary security committees, Kisumu Governor Prof. Anyang’ Nyong’o, the County Commissioner and other elected leaders.
Ogada says residents are living under growing fear following a string of killings, armed robberies and violent attacks that he argues point to a worsening breakdown of public security.
He says businesses are increasingly closing early because of insecurity, while neighbourhoods that were once considered relatively safe are witnessing a rise in violent crime.
“The security situation has reached alarming levels and demands immediate intervention,” Ogada says in the petition, urging lawmakers to treat the matter as a national security priority rather than an isolated county problem.
The activist cites a series of recent incidents, including the reported sexual assault and killing of a woman in Manyatta, Kondele Ward, attacks on security guards near Kosawo Primary School, Lake Primary School and Migosi Primary School, and the assault of a watchman in Milimani who was later admitted to Inuka Hospital.
He also refers to killings reported in Manyatta and Ondiek, as well as an attack on a videographer working for Berlin Lounge while returning home.
Ogada further alleges that security guards have increasingly become targets of violent attacks and claims cases of rape and defilement are rising, although the petition does not provide official police crime statistics to support those assertions.
He warns that unless authorities respond decisively, growing youth unemployment, rising crime and the alleged use of organised criminal gangs in political violence could combine to create a wider security crisis.
“The warning signs are already visible,” the petition says, arguing that failure to act risks allowing criminal networks to become more entrenched.
Ogada called for an urgent multi-agency security forum bringing together the Ministry of Interior, the National Police Service, county government officials, community leaders, religious organisations, business representatives and residents to develop a coordinated response to the crisis.
He said the forum would allow victims and residents to present their experiences directly to decision-makers while identifying practical measures to restore public confidence and improve security.
The petition also questions whether a Ministry of Interior directive limiting the period police officers can serve at one station is still being enforced.
Ogada argues the policy was intended to reduce corruption, strengthen accountability and improve policing, and asks Parliament to establish whether it has been abandoned or weakened.
The latest appeal is the latest in a series of warnings Ogada says he has issued over the past several years.
According to the petition, he has written more than a dozen letters since 2021 to the Ministry of Interior, the Inspector General of Police, regional police commanders, the Kisumu governor and parliamentary security committees raising concerns over violent crime, alleged police corruption, political violence, insecurity in Ahero and road safety.
The petition has also been copied to Governor Nyong’o, the Kisumu County Commissioner and other elected leaders, placing renewed pressure on both county and national authorities to respond to residents’ security concerns.
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