The lush green verdure in the Borabu farms in Nyamira County gives an inviting look to a first-time visitor.
The vast rolling landscape is a spectacle providing an alluring view that extends to the border with Sotik plains.
Lying beneath, however, especially hours after dusk when the residents go to their beds, is fear of night attacks.
The atmosphere grows more intense as the night wears on- you can cut it with a knife.
It was evident Wednesday as we scoured from one home to the other to hear from the victims.
It all began about five months ago but hit a high in mid-December when the same machete-wielding gang intensified the thuggery ransacking the villages around the Mekenene area and the greater Nyansiongo villages.
Some houses now lie abandoned by the owners.
On 31st December, they knocked on Nyansiongo Ward MCA Denis Kebaso's home.
He had gone to bed with his wife.
He relives the traumatic experience with eyes teary.
"They first cut the grills from the window before scaling into the living room.
" Here They first instructed us to lie down before ransacking every part of the house for money," The Ward Rep narrated.
When they could not get enough, they prodded him to transfer from Mpesa account whatever was to their phones, he said.
Later, they forced him to make withdrawals from the banks and transfer the money to their phones.
They also broke into his mother's house and here they helped themselves with a chama's collection.
It was around midnight, Kebaso said
When done, they abducted him and took him to a nearby tea farm where they abandoned him without his two phones.
"Still in all the while the police haven't done much besides visiting and consoling me," he said.
Two kilometers away is Obwagi Mogaka, a retiree, and now a church elder.
He resides in the Maziwa area and says he has not slept with ease for days now.
A similar night raid by thugs left him penniless.
They too knocked at 11 PM, broke into his house and ordered to be served money.
"They had machetes and had their faces masked to tell who were they. They kept calling each other Afande as they conversed," Mogaka narrated.
Brutally, they commandeered him to drive them in his car, alongside the entire loot, consisting of phones, television sets and gas cylinders.
"All the while as I drove the car to Sironga, a sharp panga rested on my neck," Mogaka told the Star.
Similar attacks, days apart, were reported at Mzee Torori's home, near Amanzi Resort, two hundred meters from Mogaka's house.
Torori said the raids have a similar pattern to others taking place in the region.
" All are young boys in their mid-twenties who are trying to reap where they had not sown," he said.
They robbed him of money and other house valuables disappearing into the dark.
Along the tarmac, near the Rionsune area, was another raid.
Here, a grandson to late politician Sagini Ndemo lost a laptop and two phones.
His mother Callen Mwango is still nursing injuries following the raid.
Brian Sagini, the grandson, had retired to his house from work three months ago when the unexpected guests sauntered in.
The same night they knocked on a Ms Benta's home.
Borabu MP Patrick Osero who visited the homes of the victims Wednesday accused police of not doing enough to contain the thuggery.
"Some of the officers have overstayed to be of any better good to my people," he said.
He agitated that they be transferred.
He was exasperated that still by Wednesday, no suspect had been arrested.
"This is a pointer to the growing lethargy among the officers especially those stationed in Matutu and Nyaronde Police stations.
" If we are to be safe, Interior CS Kithure Kindiki must act, if possible remove the rogue ones from amongst us and bring in those who are serious with their work," Osero said.
He said it was puzzling how the security agencies could fail to crack a gang that was daring enough to transfer money to their mpesa accounts.
"In some instances, it has taken a year or month and we haven't seen much action from detectives. This in itself is cause for concern," the legislator said.
He told Kindiki to transfer all officers who have stayed in Borabu for more than four years.
"Whether they are accomplices in this or not let there be routine transfers of the officers," Osero told journalists.