Dreaded Mathare-Based ‘Katombi’ Gang Dealt a Blow as Police Kill Their Leader

Police officers on Patrol on Tuesday gunned down the leader of the dreaded Katombi gang that has been terrorising residents of Mathare in Nairobi.

The gang leader who is locally known as Fadhili Mgaza had engaged the police in a shootout before he was brought down by the officers.

Pangani-based law enforcement agents met Fadhili who was on a motorbike while terrorizing pedestrians at Mlango Kubwa, in Mathare. 

"Immediately Fadhili spotted the officers, he shot at them as the bike sped towards the informal settlement. But the cops led by a senior constable who is a former musketry instructor applied the marksmanship principles effectively and shot back at the thug, tossing him from the speeding bike to the ground," DCI boss George Kinoti said.

The rider of the motorbike managed to escape in the shooting incident.

According to the DCI boss, Fadhili was one of the four gangsters who narrowly cheated death in December last year in another shooting incident that left their other leader identified as Ngaruiya dead.

The December shooting incident between the police and the gang was occasioned by the syndicate's penchant for attacking pedestrians along the Mau Mau road in Bondeni, Mathare sub-county.

"Instead of mending their ways after what befell their master as they scampered for dear life by swimming in a sewer line infested with raw sewage, they became more emboldened," the DCI boss said. 

The gang is said to have regrouped under the leadership of Fadhili and continued with their criminal activities in Huruma, Mathare and Pangani.

As the onslaught ensues, Starehe based detectives are appealing to the remnants of the gang to surrender and pay for their crimes before they are completely annihilated.

A firearm loaded with 3 rounds of 9mm calibre was recovered from the thug.