At least seven people have been killed in Baringo County during the ongoing bandit attacks in the past 48 hours.
Four people died in Kasiela area on Friday, two in Sinoni area on Saturday. A middle-aged man was also attacked, killed and his cattle herd was stolen by the assailants, causing havoc in the area.
Over the months, tens of thousands of lives have been lost as bandits ran shows in the troubled area, and the government’s efforts not to overreact to the situation. Hundreds of people have also been displaced with some schools badly disrupted.
The series of attacks came barely a day after the Rift Valley regional commissioner, Mohamed Maalim, held a peace meeting in Loruk, Baringo North, on Thursday. Addressing Baringo County leaders, Maalim confirmed that the government had identified and profiled the perpetrators.
“We have requested criminals several times to surrender illegal firearms, but no one picked up the phone. We will disarm by force. We will do our job as a government,” Maalim said.
The horrific weekend has sparked a public outcry and Baringo has become the number one trending topic on Twitter as netizens have challenged the government to take decisive action.
A protest march has been organized on Wednesday, March 9, where organizers plan to walk to the State House as part of measures to push the national government to restore peace in the troubled county.
Earlier in February, the government, led by CS Fred Matiangi, through the Ministry of the Interior, launched a campaign to drive out bandits and remove illegal firearms.
Matiangi ordered the recruitment of additional National Police constables and assured that aerial surveillance in the area should be increased to keep the attackers away.
Baringo North MP, William Chaptumo, previously expressed dissatisfaction with how the government has handled the issue of frequent attacks in the area.
Speaking during a security meeting in Baringo, Cheptumo regretted that the government was not committed to ending the insecurity in the region as no coercive action was taken against previously identified criminals.
“It makes me think that the government is not interested in dealing with this issue,” he lamented.
He further said that banditry was more about business and not centered around ethnicity as previously indicated by a section of leaders.
In January 2021, the government launched a disarmament campaign after killing at least 10 people in Kapedo. Among those killed were General Service Unit (GSU) Operations Commissioner Emadau Tebakol, Chief Inspector Moses Lakarieb and Constable Benson Kaburu.
The operation lasted eight weeks and was halted on March 23, 2021 as local leaders requested the government to allow peace operations in the area.
