Police in Kakamega County have zeroed in on four individuals suspected to have masterminded the killing of a teacher who had withdrawn money in Mumias town last month.
They are equally investigating a syndicate in which a section of boda boda operators work in cahoots with bank tellers and security guards in the town to rob customers who have withdrawn huge amounts of money.
The move follows several incidents of robberies which saw a number of residents robbed and killed immediately after withdrawing cash from banks.
In the spotlight are employees of two leading commercial banks who are accused of colluding with boda boda riders and guards to rob the unsuspecting customers.
Police said today that the riders are strategically stationed outside the two banks who are then tipped by the bank employees about customers that had withdrawn money.
They said the riders then offer to ferry the customers only to hand them over to robbers.
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The latest incident involved the killing of the teacher and robbing her of Ksh. 285,000 that she had just withdrawn from one of the banks under investigations.
Madam Roselida Akinyi was headed to her Budonga village home in Navakholo Constituency after withdrawing the cash from a bank in Mumias town on Thursday April 17, 2025.
“These cases are well orchestrated and we are probing a number of bank employees, especially the tellers who handle the cash,” the County Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Njeru Nthiga said yesterday.
He said they had already narrowed to two bank tellers, a boda boda rider and a guard in Akinyi’s killing, who they say were captured on a CCTV camera while plotting to rob the teacher.
Residents complained that Mumias town and its environs was now a haven for gangsters who are armed with firearms and crude weapons.
“It is lately suicidal to walk around Mumias town while carrying cash. Gangs maraud about and no one seems to care. What are the police doing?” posed Stanslaus Makokha, a resident.
He said traders, particularly MPESA agents, were working in fear with many other business-people opting to strictly transact through the phone instead of cash.
Angry residents held protest demonstrations in the town during which they stormed the office of the Mumias West Sub-County offices to seek answers.
Knut and Kuppet officials in the County have threatened to mobilize members to boycott the two banks.
They said locals were now forced to travel all the way to either Kakamega or Bungoma towns to make financial transactions to avoid detection.
Nthiga said the culprits always target customers who had withdrawn Ksh. 100,000 and above.
“I have taken up this matter myself and I guarantee that we shall get to the root of this and those involved arraigned in court just in a couple of days,” he added.
By Denis Lumiti
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