Post: Mombasa criminals put on notice as security is enhanced

Mombasa County Commissioner (CC) Mohamed Noor has assured residents and visitors of heightened security after a surge in theft cases involving motorcycles.The County Commissioner says that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) is burning the midnight oil to identify the criminals using motorcycles to rob innocent citizens.'We would like to appeal to the residents to assist us with information. We will leave no stone unturned to arrest them. There are those using fast-moving motorbikes to rob people of their mobile phones and chasing them is difficult,' said the CC, during the 61st Mashujaa Celebration at the Mama Ngina Waterfront.He added that the government will deploy more police officers to ensure that criminals are arrested.As schools close for long holidays of two months, the CC urged parents to discourage their children from indecent behaviour that may lead them to crimes.'There is an ongoing programme in all schools to teach our children good mannerisms not to be swayed into crimi nal activities. We won't accept the re-emergence of panga-wielding juvenile gangs,' stated Noor adding that the operation to nab criminals will continue unabated.The administrator also warned people masquerading as squatters who are fond of invading private land in Jomvu, Kisauni, and Nyali Sub-Counties of arrest and prosecution.'Officers on the ground, Sub-County Security teams must ensure private lands are not invaded and taken over. The law mandates us to protect lives and properties, which is our core business. We will not accept,' he said.'Any officers meddling in that we should be informed. We will transfer him, we will not accept people invading lands if you don't have a title deed to prove ownership don't try to invade,' he added.The County Commissioner encouraged Mombasa residents to register in the Boma Yangu portal to benefit from the Affordable Housing Program. Construction of 1976 housing units has commenced in the V.O.K area, Nyali Sub-County.The first-of-its-kind project in the Port C ity of Mombasa will completely change the skyline of the V.O.K area, the 1976 housing units that will be constructed will straddle the border of the upmarket Nyali suburb and the Mombasa-Malindi highway.The housing units will be divided into social housing, affordable housing, and market housing.Consultants have finalized the project master plan and all the trees in the 23-acre prime land will be preserved. The land was on the precipice of being turned into a dump site. The two-in-one project will have a public and residential side.The first component of the project is the public side; it will have a commercial centre and a municipal market. Initially, the market was supposed to be an Economic Stimulus Project before it was converted to a municipal market with 1000 stalls.A level four hospital, an Early Childhood Education Centre (ECDE), and primary and secondary schools will also be constructed,'It's good for area residents to prepare when the houses will be ready to be able to purchase. We don't w ant people from other places to come and purchase. We want people of Mombasa to register in the Boma Yangu platform and start to pay in instalments to benefit,' said Noor.To ensure youths are not locked out from overseas job, the Mombasa Passport Office was urged to fast-track the issuance of passports to ensure youths get jobs abroad.Source: Kenya News Agency