Kalonzo blames Ruto after Kitui attack leaves 7 dead
By Kenneth Mwenda, April 26, 2026Wiper Patriotic Front party leader Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka has blamed President William Ruto and his administration after a deadly attack in Tseikuru, Mwingi North, Kitui County, left seven people dead.
In a statement issued from Bamburi, Mombasa County on Sunday, April 26, 2026, Kalonzo said the government had failed in its duty to protect citizens. He described the killings as a serious breakdown in governance and demanded immediate answers from the state.
According to Kalonzo, about 40 heavily armed attackers stormed Kwa Kamari Trading Centre in Tseikuru at around 2pm on Saturday and opened fire on residents.
He said six men and one woman were killed during the raid, while another survivor remained in hospital with serious injuries.
“This is not merely a tragedy. It is a governance failure of the gravest order,” Kalonzo said.
He added that local accounts had described the violence as the worst banditry attack in the region in four decades.
Kalonzo questioned how armed men were able to move across county borders carrying rifles and arrive in vehicles without being stopped.
“To President Ruto: How do pastoralists come to possess automatic rifles capable of massacring seven Kenyans in minutes?” he asked.
“Who armed them? Who permitted them to move freely across county borders carrying weapons of war? The assailants reportedly arrived in two unmarked vehicles. This was not a spontaneous act. It was organised, co-ordinated, and executed with military precision against a civilian population. Where was your intelligence? Where was your security apparatus?”
He also turned his criticism to Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, saying security agencies had prior warning about tension in the area.
“You are constitutionally charged with the security of every Kenyan — from Moyale to Mombasa, from Elgeyo Marakwet to Busia from Sugoi to Tseikuru. The attackers, believed to be members of a pastoralist community, had earlier encroached illegally into the Mwingi North Game Reserve,” Kalonzo said.
“Their presence was known. Their encroachment was reported. The tension was documented. So, I ask you directly, CS Murkomen: why were armed men allowed to move freely through Kitui County carrying AK-47 rifles, while the people of Tseikuru had nothing but their bare hands?”
He asked why armed men were allowed to move through Kitui County while local residents had no protection.
Kalonzo further claimed that parts of Tseikuru and neighbouring areas had suffered repeated insecurity over the years, saying some residents had been displaced and schools disrupted.
He called on the government to move quickly to restore order.
“I call upon the Inspector General of Police to immediately deploy adequate security personnel to Tseikuru and the wider Mwingi North region,” he said.
Kalonzo also demanded a full criminal investigation, arrests of those responsible, and the disarmament of all illegal firearms in Kitui County and nearby areas.
Police probe revenge killings
His statement came as the National Police Service confirmed that Inspector General Douglas Kanja had already sent a high-level security team to the area.
The team is being led by Deputy Inspector General Eliud Lagat, who police said had arrived on the ground in Kwa Kamari on Sunday morning.
Police condemned the killings and said they would carry out full investigations.
“The NPS will take all necessary measures to combat this violence,” the service said, while urging calm and restraint from both communities.
Authorities said the latest killings appeared linked to a cycle of retaliatory attacks involving members of the Kamba and Somali communities.
Police said a Kamba herdsman was killed near Mwingi Game Reserve on March 1. That was followed by another attack on March 30 in which four members of the Somali community were killed.
Investigators believe Saturday’s raid may have been another revenge attack.
The violence also left several people displaced after houses were burned.
Kalonzo sent condolences to the families of those killed and promised to keep pressing for justice.
“To the families of the seven Kenyans killed yesterday, I grieve with you and I stand with you,” he said.
He insisted that the state carries a non-negotiable duty to protect lives and said the government had failed that test in Tseikuru.