Police are investigating an incident in which a Catholic priest was shot dead by an armed criminal in the Kapkobil area in the insecurity-prone Kerio Valley region on Thursday.
Father Allois Cheruiyot Bett, who was attached to Tot Catholic Parish in Marakwet East sub-County, heading back to the Parish headquarters in Tot on foot after conducting community prayers, popularly referred to as Jumuiya, when an armed assailant shot at him.
The killing of the priest brings to three the number of people shot dead in the region by criminals within a week.
Father Allois Cheruiyot Bett who was shot dead by an unknown assailant in Tot, Kerio Valley on May 22, 2025.
Kerio Valley Sub-County Police Commander Zablon Okoyo who confirmed the latest incident to Nation , said the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) attached to Tot Police Station visited the scene and recovered the body which was taken to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) mortuary in Eldoret.
“The priest was on his daily routine within Kapkobil Village in Mokoro sub-location when he was accosted by an armed assailant who shot at him before fleeing into the bushes,” said Mr Okoyo.
“We are yet to ascertain the cause of the killing. Police are investigating the incident to arrest the perpetrators and arraign them in court,” he said.
The priest’s killing happened days after the government imposed an 8pm to 6am curfew in Chesongoch and Tot divisions amid fears of the emergence of targeted attacks in the Kerio Valley.
This is after armed attackers killed two non-locals in unclear circumstances in separate incidents in Chesongoch and Karena villages over the past week.
Eldoret Catholic Diocese Assistant Bishop John Leleli termed the priest’s killing unfortunate and asked the government to arrest the runaway insecurity in the Kerio Valley region.
"The priest was on his mission of spreading the gospel when he was shot dead by an unknown assailant," Bishop Lelei said on the phone, decrying the killings and sufferings as a result of armed conflict in the area.
The incident comes hot on the heels of the killing of Father John Maina who served at Igwamiti Catholic Parish in Nyandarua, who was found dead on the morning of Thursday, May 15 at Kikopey along the busy Nairobi-Nakuru highway, nearly 50 kilometers from his parish.
The killings in the restive Kerio Valley happen barely three weeks after Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen convened a security and peace meeting in Chesongoch, Kerio Valley.
In attendance were Inspector General of Police Douglaus Kanja, his deputy Eliud Lagat, Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Hassan Abdi and security teams from Baringo, West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
The CS said National Police Reservists (NPRs) would be vetted afresh and their remuneration reviewed, alongside government attention to long-standing boundary disputes and emerging highway robberies.
He said all national services will operate under the command of Officers Commanding stations (OCS)) and that NPR camps will be established to complement police efforts in the fight against crime.
“We want to have disciplined NPRs who will be remunerated and registered with SHA to assist police in cracking down on criminals and fighting long-lasting peace in the troubled Kerio Valley,” said CS Murkomen.
He disclosed that the re-vetted NPRs will undergo training and those found to collaborate with criminals will be sacked and prosecuted accordingly.
“We are going to deal firmly with NPR who lease their firearms to criminals or collaborate with them in banditry activities,” added the CS.
Last Saturday, a worker at a local construction company was shot dead by armed attackers.
Simon Njaga, 53, was shot dead by an armed attacker on Saturday in Karena village in Tot Division while in the company of other villagers. The incident happened at around 8:30 pm last Saturday.
Last Thursday, another non-local, Bonface Ongote, a motorcycle mechanic was shot dead at 8:45 pm at Chesongoch Trading Center by an unknown gunman believed to be a bandit.
Elgeyo Marakwet County Police Commander Peter Mulinge said that the motive of last week’s shootings is yet to be established, although it is believed to be a reaction to an ongoing security operation in the Endo area where suspected bandits were arrested recently.
The killings bring to 20 the number of people shot dead in the banditry-prone Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo counties since the beginning of the year.
The killings are scaring away investors and affecting development works, including the Maron-Sobow and Ketut-Mokoro water projects and the Mulwaber irrigation project paralyzed where workers, a majority of them non-locals, have fled for their dear lives.
Kerio Valley Sub-County Deputy County Commissioner Ezekiel Amonde said the attacks have scared away investors, but assured residents of their safety, noting that measures to arrest perpetrators and restore sanity have been put in place.
Mr Nelson Ochola, a non-local working in the area, said armed attackers are now targeting non-locals, a move that could derail development because the attacks have scared away investors.
“Following the attacks, we are not at peace because we are not assured of our safety. We may be forced to move away. We are wondering why the attackers targeted the two,” said Mr Ochola.
Another non-local, Edgar Ogutu, termed it regrettable that people who had gone to look for a living in the area were shot dead in unclear circumstances and called on the government to arrest those behind the killings.
“It is disheartening to see people targeting workers in their area. If this trend will not be stopped, non-locals will flee. Peace is paramount for development, and insecurity will scare away people, including investors,” cautioned Mr Ogutu.
“We suspect that following the measures we put to hunt down criminals in the area, some individuals reacted by targeting non-locals. The move has scared away investors and non-locals, but we want to assure them that those were isolated incidents and we have put some interventions to restore order in the area, including a curfew in a bid to crack down on armed criminals wreaking havoc in this area,” Mr Amonde, the Kerio Valley Sub-County Deputy County Commissioner said.
“We have also deployed the military and the General Service Unit (GSU) to aid in security operations in affected areas, supplemented by a multi-agency team. We have recalled investors and non-locals who fled. They should not be scared because sanity has been restored,” assured the administrator.
