Abstract
The consistent operational revival that is characterized by port modernization, and the broadening of its area of action following the transfer of the Inland waterways ports from the Kenya Railways ( KR) to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), and the shifting strategic and organizational features to incorporate intermodalism has scattered crime into the interlands.
This suggest a very significant capacity for adaptation and robust resilience by the criminal syndicates. The evolution of the port criminal organization in the Inland waterways to incorporate local gangs is an essential reminder to the Authority, to urgently reconfigure it's governance strategic priorities, modus operandi, and management of its human resources.
Port Criminal Gangs
However, although corruption and Illicit formations is massively under attack at the port. The multiagency teams, have only scratched the surface. The gangs are also adapting, and scattering crime to the entry points.
This group has managed not only to remain active in at the Mombasa port, and the Inland Container Depot, but has reinvented itself to a certain extent and captured the transregional criminal market, exploiting structural ambiguities in the outerports to entranch itself - in KPA reporting structures, thus thrive, by disrupting security procedures .
Currently, the gangs are made of government accomplices coming from very different experiences, there's railways security apparatus, Kenya fisheries, Kenya Ports Authority, County Inspectorate, immigration, local law enforcement and Kenya Revenue Authority:
The Ethnic kalejins control the landscape, given there control of security and port apparatus, this group is linked to a powerful underworld, within the Lake basin counties - trading in illegal fuel, maize smuggling, wildlife trophies, money laundering, revenue theft, tax evasion and Contraband smuggling.
The group's historic stronghold in Kisumu county, and funds it's criminal activities by 'gate keeping' for unscrupulous traders, and also finance protection from local Criminal syndicates.
The latest port crime chapter has closely aligned itself to the China Squad gang; leveraging on the fact that some of the China gang members are linked to local politicians, and those from the borderline counties i.e Bugoma, Mount Elgin, and Teso. These political connections ensures at all there's friendly law enforcement apparatus at the border points.
In Kisumu port; the network has incoporated much of all the different 19 gangs operating in Kisumu, to ease contraband distribution in areas controle by the different gangs and players of the different ethnic background—Luo, Kisii, and Luhya groups.
