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Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has convened a crisis security meeting with all elected leaders from Baringo county today following escalating cases of insecurity which has left 10 people dead this month alone.

The latest of the bloodletting is the Monday’s killing of two people, including a minor at Yatya area in Baringo North, which has sparked tension in the area.

In a letter to the leaders dated February 27, Kindiki said the meeting to be held at his Harambee House office is aimed at addressing recent insecurity incidents in the county.

“In light of the recent incidents of insecurity in parts of Baringo County, I invite you for a meeting at my Harambee House office on Thursday 29, 2024 from 6.30am to 8.30am,” Kindiki’s letter seen by People Daily reads in part.

Many Baringo County residents however questioned the rationale of the meeting being held in Nairobi but not in the areas where bandits are terrorising locals.

“The meeting ought to be held at the killing fields not travelling to Nairobi to waste taxpayers’ money,” said Kipkoskei Sesat, a resident.

Joe Kipkazi, another resident, said the government should move with speed and address the plight of hundreds of residents who have been displaced from their homes as a result of banditry.
Displacements of innocents

“Boardroom meetings, yet we are witnessing displacement of innocent wananchi? Surely, we are getting everything wrong,” said Kipkazi.

Thomas Kipchillis on his part said it was time the government changed its strategy if ending banditry in the troubled North Rift was anything to go by.

“This is just the normal rhetoric, repeating the same thing and expecting different results,” said Kipchillis.

Mogotio MP Reuben Kiborek who is among leaders who have been invited to the meeting however defended the scheduled meeting with the CS arguing that it was meant to address the insecurity challenges facing the region.

“This is not the time to engage in blame games but rather on solutions. It is easier to look for who to blame but it is another thing to look for solutions,” said Kiborek.

“Suggest your solutions and we read them and deliver them on the table. We must make Baringo and North Rift safe and secure from banditry by all means possible,” added the youthful legislator.

Invited for meeting

Those who have been invited for today’s meeting include Governor Benjamin Cheboi, Senator William Cheptumo and County MP Florence Jematiah.

Others include MPs William Kamket (Tiaty), Joseph Makilap (Baringo North), Joshua Kandie (Baringo Central), Charles Kamuren (Baringo South), Reuben Kiborek (Mogotio), Musa Sirma (Eldama Ravine) and Jackson Kosgey (Nominated).

Some residents also questioned the timing of the meeting noting that it will coincide with the funeral mass for one of the insecurity victims- Thomas Kibet, the visually impaired teacher who was gunned down by bandits a fortnight ago.

Kibet who was Kagir Primary School headteacher was on a motorcycle with his wife and a child on their way to Kipcherere Secondary School in Baringo North sub-county for a function when they were ambushed by armed bandits in Namba area.

Kibet had survived another attack by cattle rustlers at the age of nine, leaving him totally blind.
Residents yesterday wondered why killings continue to be witnessed in the area despite heavy deployment of security personnel to the region.

The situation has adversely affected education in the region with learning paralyzed in five schools in Baringo South and Baringo North after parents and their children fled the volatile areas fearing for their lives.

Schools whose learning has been paralysed in the region include: Kosile, Ngaratuko,Kibenos, Kagir and Yatya primary schools.

Early last year, the government termed six banditry-prone counties in the North Rift among them Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Laikipia and Samburu as ‘disturbed and dangerous’ and rolled out a massive security operation coordinated by police and assisted by the military following the killing of more than 100 civilians and 24 police officers in six months alone.