More administrative units and police stations will be established in banditry-prone areas within the North Rift in a bid to boost security, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen said yesterday.

According to Murkomen, the government is also in the process of opening up the region for development though infrastructure improvement and improved road network. In Baringo for example, the CS said, the proposed Kolowa sub-county will boost security along Elgeyo Marakwet-Baringo border.

He lauded the relative peace that has been witnessed in the otherwise restive region over the past six months, which he said has seen many schools that had been closed down for many years now reopening.

“We must thank our people for existing peacefully. That’s the reason we want to open this region for them to engage in meaningful development,” said the CS.

Murkomen was speaking when he concluded his tour of Tiaty sub-county where he also gave notice to the remaining criminal elements still wreaking havoc in the area.

“Let them just surrender all illegal firearms or they face the full force of the law. We will rest at nothing until we make sure that all firearms in the wrong hands are seized,” the CS said, asserting the government’s commitment to changing the region through development.

The CS, who had also toured Todonyang area in Turkana County, was accompanied by top security chiefs from Rift Valley led by Regional Coordinator Abdi Hassan and Regional Police Commander Jasper Ombati.

Others in the entourage included East African Community Affairs and Regional Development Cabinet Secretary Beatrice Askul, Turkana North MP Ekwom Nabuin, Deputy Inspector General (National Police Service) Eliud Lagat and GSU Commandant Ranson Lolmodooni among others.

Murkomen said the government has embarked on immediate, short-term and long-term measures to boost security along our borders.

According to Murkomen, National Police Reservists (NPRs) who play a critical role in complementing regular security agencies, will be equipped to deal with militia and other criminal gangs.

National documents

“We are also ramping up the welfare of all police reservists, even as we establish more border posts so as to better account for those who enter and exit our country,” said the CS.

Murkomen acknowledged the residents complains over the difficulty in accessing vital documents like national identity cards and birth certificates, and promised that the government will address the matter.

“Government officers responsible for this exercise will soon be granted motor vehicles to enable them to reach more Kenyans and issue them their respective documents,” said Murkomen.

The Kolowa border has over the years experienced untold suffering with many people being shot dead by marauding criminals. The area has been the escape route for armed bandits.

The latest incident saw the killing of three people at the Tot-Kolowa road at the border of Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties. The victims were ambushed while returning from Kolowa market.

Residents raised their concerns with the CS, expressing that the issue of perennial insecurity in the restive region would be addressed.

Murkomen on his part assured them that calm has been restored in the area even as he reiterated the government’s commitment to stamp out the banditry menace in the North Rift.

“I am confident this will mark the final phase of our efforts to eliminate these criminal elements that have terrorised citizens for years,” said Murkomen.