So the upshot of this article seems to be that Kenyan communities, hundreds of them, each have their own local gang/militia which is sponsored by one politician or another, with the politician using the gang as an enforcement arm, attacking rival politicians, attacking adverse protests, etc. The problem is so ingrained that one academic describes it as "Kenyan culture". The government and police make strong statements to the effect of "we're cracking down on them, we've investigated them, we've got the names of the sponsors, and the problem will be solved soon", but there are no actual actions visibly taking place to effect said crackdown. In fact, police seem to turn a blind eye towards or even perhaps collaborate with the gangs, with gang violence taking place regardless of police presence.