Six held over spate of insecurity in Kenya's Kisumu city

Six suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of prominent businessmen in the Kenya's lakeside city of Kisimu as the authorities reshuffled top security forces in the region. At least 3 prominent personalities in the city have been murdered in a span of one week under mysterious circumstances raising queries over the role of security agents in the town. Provincial Commissioner Francis Mutie said Friday the three suspects were arrested over the murder of politician Shem Onyango Kwega while the other three are being interrogated in connection with Phanuel Marwa's killing. "Investigation is still on to apprehend other suspects in connection with the recent murders in Kisumu," said Mutie who chairs the security committee. Prime Minister Raila Odinga held a crisis meeting with top security chiefs in Kisumu over a spate of insecurity which has sparked tension in the lakeside city. Odinga recalled former divisional police commander Johnstone Wanyama to Kisumu city to help contain the state of insecurity due to public demand. Odinga announced on Friday that the officer was on his way barely a day after residents demanded for his return after a weeklong protest over the wave of crime in the city. It emerged that the public had lost confidence on those in charge of the docket after the city experienced a series of unresolved murders and robberies. The PM told a news conference in Kisumu on Friday after a closed door meeting with security chiefs at the provincial commissioner's office that the officer was resuming duties at his former station with immediate effect. He however cautioned the residents not to assume that a single individual could fix the insecurity menace in the city but asked them to co operation with the officers. Odinga also urged residents who over the week engaged police in running battles while protesting over the issue to remain calm. He also directed the police to stop using excessive force against the public but resort to acceptable means of containing the protesters. "Police should desist from using live bullets on unarmed resident but instead use rubber bullets and teargas to disperse the demonstrations," he said. He said the two hour briefing session with the security chiefs was to get an update of the progress the officers were making to contain the recent wave of killings that sparked public outcry. Upon arrival from a foreign trip, the Premier spent Thursday evening consoling relatives of those killed before visiting hospitalized victims of the riots and the wave of crime. The wife of the late politician Shem Onyango sustained bullet wounds after gunmen waylaid their vehicle and killed her husband in a daylight robbery. Five of the six casualties are hospitalized among whom a standard seven pupil sustained gunshot wounds after police reportedly used live ammunition to quell demonstrations. Three people died of bullet wounds during the four days protests in the city after residents demanded the transfer of senior security officers over alleged complicity with criminal gangs in the area. Regional police commander Joseph Ole Tito on Tuesday ruled out politics as motive of the murder of Kwega as riots paralyze business in the busy town. Ole Tito said initial investigations have revealed that the politician cum business had 15,300 U.S. dollars which he was taking to the bank to deposit when unknown thugs accosted him on his way there. "The death of Kwega is not political. We have established that the victim had in possession of 1.3 million shillings (about 15, 300 dollars) which he was going to deposit in a bank when he was accosted by the crminals," Ole Tito said.