Bandits leave one dead in yet another daring attack in Kerio Valley
A police vehicle carries mourners escorting them to the burial of a bandit attack victim in Kapedo on the border of Turkana and Baringo Counties on February 17, 2023.
Bandits left one dead as they staged yet another daring raid in Kerio Valley on Sunday despite the government’s tough talk against banditry in the North Rift region.
27-year-old Elisha Mutang, a fresh animal health graduate, was shot in the thigh and succumbed to the gunshot wound as he was being attended to in the hospital.
Another person, David Murkomen - a National Police Reservist (NPR) is being treated at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret after he was shot in the legs during the raid.
According to a local, Mr Daniel Loreng from Karel village in Marakwet East, over 100 heavily armed bandits raided Chepkawar grazing field and ambushed herders on Sunday, spraying them with bullets before getting away with the livestock they were herding.
“We feel no impact of the ongoing security operation in the bandit-prone region. The government is just issuing threats, which are not helping to contain the marauding bandits,” said Mr Loreng outside MTRH funeral home on Sunday.
Ms Winnie Kanda, another local, said five professionals were killed by bandits in the past week within the Kerio Valley.
“When other regions are educating their children hoping for a bright future, ours are left in the hands of the marauding bandits. We have said enough is enough and we need to see decisive action taken to end the menace. This bloodletting in Kerio Valley is unbearable,” she said.
Ms Kanda alleged the government is only implementing curfew in selected areas but has left other areas unmanned.
“Interior CS Prof Kithure Kindiki said phase two of the operation will commence on Monday. We do not know when phase one started because apart from the increased police presence, nothing is happening as the killings are going on,” she said.
