Police sharpshooter kills Katombi Gang commander in Mathare Valley, Nairobi

A wanted criminal was gunned down in Nairobi on Tuesday night, February 8, as he attempted to escape a police patrol team that bumped into him in the streets of Mathare - a low-income neighbourhood.

According to a report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Fadhili Mgaza was fatally shot off a speeding motorbike by a police sharpshooter.

His accomplice, who was riding the bike lost control and crashed into a drum of boiling matumbo (tripe) and soup before scattering into the slum.

File image of a police vehicle at a crime scene Pulse Live Kenya

The police patrol team bumped into Fadhili, the leader of an infamous criminal gang, 'Katombi Gang', and after spotting them, the suspect opened fire and a shootout ensued.

“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 marksmanship principles effectively and shot back at the thug, tossing him from the speeding bike to the ground,” read the DCI’s statement in part.

Gang violence in Nairobi's Mathare Valley

Police believe Fadhili’s death has crippled Katombi Gang because he was its second commander.

Authorities feared that the gang was close to establishing a fiefdom in Mathare Valley.

In December 2021, the suspect had escaped through a raw sewage tunnel when police officers foiled a robbery attempt in Mathare.

During the incident, the detectives shot the gang’s former leader who was popularly known as Ngaruiya.

“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.

“They regrouped under Fadhili’s leadership and continued to terrorize city residents in Huruma, Mathare and Pangani areas,” the DCI said in the statement.

Police officers have given the remaining members of the Katombi Gang less than two months to surrender.