A storm is brewing in Kenya’s Ngong, with reports of a couple of Subaru vehicles both bearing the distinctive number plate KDQ 040E and fireside stories of involvement in at least 19 shootings reported in the area. Social media and neighborhood forums are currently abuzz with concerned citizens raising stern questions regarding what they term as the “Kasongo Killer Squad,” a claimed clandestine outfit using state style vehicles to carry out violent attacks with impunity.
More troubling, however, is not just the intensity and frequency of the attacks but also the ominous possibility that these vehicles are in the possession of a well structured unit, either with ties to rogue security units or politically empowered groupings. The duplication of license plate numbers and variability in patterns of registration suggest something far more sinister than random gang violence: it suggests planning, cover-ups, and even state complicity or indifference.
The name “Kasongo Killer Squad” has also begun to circulate in Kenyan social networks and neighborhood WhatsApp groups. Residents assert that the group is active with use of black or silver Subaru vehicles with darkly tinted windows and number plates that cannot be traced. The clan is also allegedly responsible for a series of night attacks and drive-by shootings in Ngong and its surrounding areas since the latter part of 2024, typically against identified persons suspected of being involved in local disputes, gang wars, or whistleblowing campaigns.
Although no group has officially claimed credit for the attacks, eyewitness descriptions all more or less paint a picture: high speed pull-ins, masked attackers, and a quick escape into darkness, occasionally pursued in vain by inadequately equipped local police. The repeated use of Subaru vehicles renowned for their speed, ruggedness, and agility has not gone unnoticed. But it was the unusual license plate that finally raised national attention.
Number plate KDQ 040E has been spotted on at least two more Subaru vehicles, even in two other towns on a single day, as photographed by keen social media activists. A photo that went viral in mid-July 2025 shows both vehicles parked less than 200 meters apart in Ngong, instantly suspecting.
A closer examination reveals that the plate architecture is not compatible with the official records stored by the National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA). The KDQ series, launched in 2021 as part of Kenya’s vehicle registration digitalization, contains security elements, barcodes, and traceability in a centralized database. But numerous characteristics of the KDQ 04E plates like blurred fonts, lack of QR codes, and irregular spacing point toward them being counterfeit.
In 2023 Journal of Transport Security research on vehicle forgery in East Africa, they found that the utilization of fake and cloned number plates has increased in their usage in offenses like smuggling, kidnappings, and killings. Kenya, in particular, has been placed on the spot as a result of open-minded regulation and corruption in licensing bureaus. The KDQ 04E case replicates the trend almost to perfection.
Ngong suburb, once a peaceful satellite town of Nairobi, has seen a 12-month increase in violent crimes. Most of the mayhem is said to be linked to gang turf battles fighting over control of land deals, illegal betting kiosks, and drugs trafficking corridors. The presence of what seems to be professional squads, including the KDQ vehicles, provides another aspect of terror, albeit.
Survivors and witnesses speak of attacks too sophisticated to be commonplace gang attacks. The victims are typically targeted singly, suggesting pre-spying. Some residents now begin to wonder whether criminal groups of law enforcers or politically affiliated private militia groups might be behind the killings, using the gangs as a cover.
Adding to the complexity is a related photo taken in May 2025, of the same KDQ-numbered Subaru parked beside the gate of the raided premises of former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua. Despite the lack of official connection between Gachagua and the assassin team, the photo generated controversy and social media excitement.
The raid, which was reportedly linked to an anti-graft investigation, saw the confiscation of luxury vehicles and money. The fact that the KDQ vehicle was in the neighborhood appeared to be coincidental, leaving some of the most important questions unanswered. Was it driven by security agents during the raid or other actors monitoring the operation?
While no peer-reviewed account has implicated Gachagua in the Kasongo team, the convergence of political, criminal, and intel narratives has presented a shroud of uncertainty that Kenyan authorities have not adequately cleared.
The NTSA, Kenya Police Service, and Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have not yet issued a public release about the KDQ 04E Subaru scandal. The quietness only raised more speculation, with others calling for a comprehensive audit of the vehicle registration system and tracing of duplicate or counterfeit plates being used in criminal operations.
Human rights activists and civil society groups have urged the government to also probe the Ngong shootings within a general inquiry into extrajudicial executions in Kenya. Others have compared the current crisis to the infamous “Flying Squad” and “Kwekwe Squad” units of yesterdays high-flyer squadrons that were denounced for abuses and were seen as synonymous with political repression.
Whether or not the so-called Kasongo Killer Squad is a politically driven militia, a rogue gang, or a paramilitary group, it’s yet to be seen. But this much is true. Ngong residents deserve answers. They must be protected. And they deserve a justice system that will not let cars whose plates are cloned and men brandishing guns roam around their streets without bringing them to book.
As the people call ever more loudly for transparency and accountability, the KDQ 04E Subarus can become an enduring emblem no longer of violence alone but of a more profound corruption within Kenya’s security apparatus. The government has an immediate obligation to restore trust before more lives are lost in the dark war over power, land, and silence
Unmarked Cars, Masked Men: How Fake Plates Are Fueling Murder in Kenya
