Visit Baringo to address rising insecurity, leaders tell Uhuru
Baringo North William Cheptumo speaks to journalists in Nakuru on March 13, 2022 during a press conference by leaders from Baringo who called on President Uhuru Kenyatta to personally tour the region to address rising insecurity.
Amid rising insecurity in Baringo, local leaders have demanded that President Uhuru Kenyatta personally visits the county to assess the situation and help end the runaway banditry in the region.
The more than 20 leaders — among them Baringo Governor Stanley Kiptis, former governor Benjamin Cheboi, MPs William Cheptumo (Baringo North), Charles Kamuren (Baringo South) and other local leaders — made the call on Sunday when they addressed journalists at the Sarova Woodlands Hotel in Nakuru City.
The leaders said locals have had enough of the insecurity and appealed to President Kenyatta to visit Baringo and personally intervene to end the bloodshed in the region.
“We have lost too many lives of our people owing to banditry attacks in the region since last December. In Baringo North and South, we have buried very many victims of the banditry attacks. The bandits are daring and are even targeting security officers including National Police Reservists trying to contain the situation. I am appealing to the Head of State to personally intervene to end the killings,” said Mr Cheptumo.
The leaders want the president to break his silence and tackle the insecurity in Rift Valley head-on.
Suspend campaigns
They also unanimously agreed to suspend election campaigns for at least 10 days to focus on addressing the insecurity in the region.
“We have decided to put aside election campaigns to first look for solutions to the rising cases of banditry in Baringo. The people of Baringo North and South, which are mainly affected, cannot even think about elections, they want humanitarian aid of food and other items. They are no longer interested in politics,” said Governor Kiptis.
The governor called for urgent humanitarian aid from donors and government agencies for the victims of banditry.
The appeal comes a day after a senior police officer was shot dead and another one injured in a daring banditry attack in Kapkechir, Baringo South.
The Friday afternoon incident happened when the officers attached to the General Service Unit (GSU) based in Lamaiywe were on routine patrol in the volatile border.
The officers were ambushed by armed attackers suspected to be from the neighbouring Tiaty Sub-County.
Illegal herders
Hundreds of illegal herders from the Pokot community have moved into the area with their livestock.
The spate of attacks that has claimed more than 10 lives in the area since the beginning of the year has forced residents out of their homes, with the deserted villages now the hideouts for the criminals.
The killing brings to 23 the number of people killed by bandits in the insecurity-prone areas since January.
To tame the rampant attacks and flush out bandits, the government deployed platoons of GSU officers and over 80 NPRs to the affected areas of Baringo North and Baringo South to help quell the rising banditry.
Last week, Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Maalim Mohamed issued a shoot to kill order for armed criminals in the troubled counties of the North Rift.
