Kitui leaders have condemned the recent killings of two locals by camel herders in a span of two weeks in the Tseikuru and Ngomeni wards of Mwingi North.

In the recent killing, the body of a 48-year-old man from the Mandongoi area of Ngomeni was found decomposing in a thicket after he went missing for four days.

Confirming the incident, Kyuso OCPD Nicholas Mutua said the head of the deceased was chopped off and thrown a meter away from the trunk.

According to area locals, the deceased was herding his goats when the camel herders found him and brutally killed him.

Second death

The killing occurred less than a week after a cattle seller in Tseikuru was also hacked to death by the herders.

Locals said they fled their homes out of fear of more attacks while school-going children have stopped going to school.

Kitui leaders led by Senator Kiio Wambua condemned the killings during a meeting with the locals at Mandongoi, Ngomeni on Monday, November 21, 2022.

The leaders stated that it was inhumane for the intruders to invade farms and kill locals.

Kitui Senator Kiio Wambua lamented that he called President William Ruto in vail after seeing the photo of the decomposing body.

“After seeing the photo of that decomposing body, I called the President more than four times but I could not get him. I sent CS Kithure Kindiki to tell him that the hope of the Kitui people is in his hands,” Wambua said.

The senator also noted that it was shocking that the camel herders were still in the farms in Kitui even after the order from the Eastern Regional commissioner for the herders to drive their camels away.

Wambu called on security officers to push the herders away from the farms in Kitui.

“We do not have a problem with the Somali people, the problem we have is with camel herders who are killing our people in their own land,” Wambua lamented.

Mwingi North Member of Parliament (MP) Paul Nzengu called on the government to enhance security in the area to ensure locals are well protected and return to their homes.

“When Kyuso OCPD deployed security officers from several sub-counties, the herders were pushed away, only beefing up security would help our people,” Nzengu said.

Nzengu also said the leaders will push for the deployment of more security personnel to the region for peace to prevail.