Suba South Member of Parliament Millie Odhiambo has raised concerns over the surge in using goons to advance political ambitions and to intimidate business owners.

Through a post shared on her Facebook page, MP Odhiambo warned that the use of goons could plunge the country into lawlessness, citing gang-infested Haiti as an example.

The ODM legislator also criticized the authorities for tolerating individuals she described as gangsters. She cautioned that if the trend is not curbed, it could be a tragedy waiting to happen for the country. “The rise of Gangster culture tolerated by authority will haunt Kenya,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

She pointed to a recent incident where about 100 goons armed with crude weapons, stormed a Kisumu hotel owned by Democracy for Citizens Party Patron and Nairobi Gubernatorial candidate Irungu Nyakera, assaulting staff, restraining a body guard and vandalizing property.

Millie also cited a similar one in Nairobi on Wednesday night, at a premise owned by former Cabinet Secretary Raphael Tuju.

“100 gangsters were used to try and evict a businessman from premises in Kisumu. Similar gangsters were used to hound Tuju yesterday. Soon, like Haiti, we might need other nations to assist us deal with gangsters,” she warned.

In the early hours of Wednesday, March 11, about a dozen goons raided Irungu Nyakera’s Fairways Hotel in Kisumu, damaging property and fleeing with electronic gadgets.

Nyakera said he was present during the attack and was forced to fire two shots into the air to scare away the goons. He claimed the attack stemmed from a land dispute.

“When I came downstairs, I found the place had been completely vandalised,” he said, estimating his loss at about Ksh50 million.

In the past, political events, especially those by opposition leaders, have been marred by goons, who the leaders say are backed by senior government officials.