‘I have forgiven them’: Pastor scarred by banditry urges sustained security operation
Pastor Mark Kwonyike of Moinonin Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) church in Baringo North, during an interview on December 14, 2025. The cleric lost two brothers to banditry and one other left nursing gunshot wounds.
On Sunday afternoon, Mark Kwonyike, 54, a pastor at the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) Moinonin in the insecurity-prone Baringo North led a sermon after a praise and worship session.
This is an area that has been marred by perennial bandit attacks and stock theft that has led to loss of lives, livelihood and locals displaced from their homes over the years.
Few months ago, the area was so volatile that people plying the Marigat- Moinonin -Chemolingot road had to be escorted by security officers with armoured vehicles due to the resurgence of highway bandit attacks.
But on this particular day, things were different- there was relative calm and the church members; children, youth and adults worshipped in songs and praise without fear, thanks to security operation rolled out by the state dubbed operation ‘maliza uhalifu’ that has seen locals in the banditry-prone villages surrender their illegal guns.
As the cleric preached and encouraged the locals to be steadfast in their faiths, one could hardly tell that he had been worst hit by the perennial insecurity menace, having suffered a huge blow after his two younger brothers were shot dead by armed criminals in separate incidents, while one other left immobile and nursing gunshot injuries sustained in an attack.
For Pastor Kwonyike, the ongoing gun mop-up exercise carried out by the multi-agency team in the insecurity-prone North Rift, is long overdue, insisting that it should continue until all illegal guns in the hands of civilians are seized.
According to the cleric, it all started in January 2022 when his brother, Stephen Kwonyike, travelled from his Chepkesin home to Lamaiywe in Baringo South, hundreds of kilometres away in search of water and pasture.
At the time, there was a long dry spell in the area that led to the depletion of water and water sources, forcing locals to drive their livestock further afield in search of the limited resources.
“My brother, who was also a livestock trader, rode his motorcycle and left early in the morning for the said village to scout where he could get pasture so that he could come back to take livestock,” said Pastor Kwonyike.
Armed criminals
Little to the livestock trader’s knowledge, armed criminals had invaded the village he was heading to and had started burning houses within Lamaiywe and Korkoron villages, forcing thousands of locals to flee to safer areas.
“He came face to face with the criminals who were burning houses and shot him dead before setting ablaze his body and the motorcycle. He was later identified through the number plates of the motorbike,” said the cleric, stating that the criminals also robbed his brother of more than Sh400,000 during the attack.
He left behind three wives and 24 children.
Before the killing, the trader had survived two other attacks – he was ambushed by armed criminals in 2019 along the Chemolingot-Kapedo road while heading to Ameyan market and robbed of Sh160,000, and in 2022, he was also shot at by attackers at Kaburkel.
A year later, April 2023, just when the pastor was yet to come to terms with Stephen’s demise, another brother, Raymond, was shot dead at the grazing fields in the insecurity-prone Ng’aratuko village in Baringo North Sub-County.
At the time, Raymond, 36, and his brother Moses,45, were herding livestock in the afternoon when gunshots rent the air- as other herders fled for their lives, the duo was cornered by the attackers who convinced them that they would not harm them, insisting that they have a conversation.
As the two terrified brothers listened to the armed criminals, they shot at them in close range and Raymond died on the spot after he was shot three times on the chest and stomach, while Moses sustained serious gunshot injuries on his legs and arm.
“After the incident, the attackers made away with more than 18 cows and fled towards the neighboring Tiaty sub-County. We thereafter began arrangements to bury our second brother killed by bandits and also nursed the other, who was recuperating in hospital after sustaining serious gunshot injuries. We spent a fortune to clear the hospital bills that had accrued to Sh500,000,” said the father of six.
“As we speak, the one who survived the ordeal is now crippled and cannot provide for his family. My two deceased brothers’ widows and their children are also under my care. The burden is so heavy, but I will just have to assist them,” he added.
After the killings, armed criminals invaded Moinonin village last year and raided several villages- during the attack, the bandits made away with the family’s remaining 24 cows, rendering them paupers.
“Livestock keeping is our main source of livelihood but as I speak, all our cows were driven away by criminals after killing my two brothers and leaving the other crippled after sustaining serious gunshot injuries. Though I have suffered a huge blow due to the perennial attacks, I harbor no bitter feelings against those who killed them, I have forgiven them and pray them they reform from their wayward ways,” said the cleric.
Despite worst hit by insecurity, the cleric has been a peace champion by spearheading peace talks and preaching peaceful co-existence among the neighboring communities living in the border area.
“All I want is peace because I have felt firsthand the detriment of intercommunal conflicts to the extent of losing two brothers to banditry and other left immobile. Due to mechanisms put in place by the State to tame the runaway insecurity menace, relative calm is now returning to the area and we urge the State to ensure that they sustain it so that we do not reverse the gains we have achieved in peace building,” he noted.
" I have seen it all- not only have I lost my brothers and livestock to banditry, but I have also buried my neighbors, hosted displaced families and provided for the destitute. It is high time this menace end once and for all. We pray that it would not recur any other time," added the pastor.
The man of the cloth is appealing the state to seize all guns in the hands of civilians in the banditry prone villages if peaceful co-existence among neighboring communities is anything to go by.
He is also recommending the state to open up and initiate development projects in the marginalised far-flung villages that have lagged behind in development for many years.
“For this peace to be sustainable, all the guns in the hands of civilians must be seized. I have suffered a huge loss and I don’t want another family to undergo the situation that I am in now. The locals in the affected communities should also be sensitised on alternative livelihoods so that they don’t over rely on livestock keeping, which is the main cause of insecurity. I have hope that one day, this menace will end completely,” said the cleric.
According to the Jukwaa La Usalama report, banditry and cattle rustling emerged as one of the leading security threats in many parts of the country.
The government consequently plans to construct 900 police stations in the next two years to increase accessibility of security agents to help contain the problem.
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