Nomalcy resumes in bandit-prone North Rift

The government has made big strides in restoring calm in the banditry prone counties in the North Rift, Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki has said.

Six banditry-prone counties in the region among them Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Laikipia and Samburu had in February been termed as ‘disturbed’ and ‘dangerous’ after more than 100 people including 24 police officers killed in the past six months alone.

Prof Kindiki, who toured the region acknowledged that the gorges, ravines, escarpments and hills which the bandits were hiding are no longer in their territory.

“We have managed to flush them out and our security officers have dominated their territory. It is the government’s assurance that all those criminals will never be allowed back there,” said Prof Kindiki who spoke in Chemolingot in Baringo County.

“Our officers from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Police Service are working seamlessly to ensure that the ongoing operation to pacify the North Rift region succeeds,” added the CS.

Kindiki said to bolster the operation, the government has established a security camp at Kolowa at the border of Tiaty constituency in Baringo County and Marakwet East in the neighbouring Elgeyo-Marakwet County. “The camp will have specialised security officers and will remain active even after the ongoing operation Maliza Uhalifu North Rift,” said Kindiki.

He was accompanied by Elgeyo-Marakwet County Governor Wisley Rotich who lauded the government’s efforts to restore sanity in the restive region.