Isiolo bandit attack: Leaders demand action by CS Matiang'i
Isiolo leaders Rehema Jaldesa (woman rep), Hussein Tene, and former MCA Mohamud Nura address the media at a Nairobi hotel on June 20, 2021.
What you need to know:
- Led by Woman Representative Rehema Jaldesa, the leaders noted they have lost at least 40 people in less than a year to bandit attacks.
Isiolo’s leaders have condemned the killing of five people in the county by suspected bandits from the neighbouring Wajir, and demanded quick action by the Interior ministry to prevent more bloodshed.
Led by Woman Representative Rehema Jaldesa, the leaders noted on Sunday that they have lost at least 40 people in less than a year to such attacks.
Ms Jaldesa said that for the past few months, innocent civilians have been killed by bandits from Wajir West, Hadado Sub-county in particular, using guerilla tactics such as ambushing them as they sleep at night.
No action taken
The leaders demanded that Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i ensures the immediate arrest of the attackers and their financiers.
“The killing of innocent women and children in the early morning raid was the lowest and saddest moment in our country. Human life is sacred and must be protected,” Ms Jaldesa told a press briefing in Nairobi.
She complained that despite numerous reports to relevant security agencies in the area, no action has been taken yet it is a “well known fact that the bandits are dropped and picked up by vehicles at designated points” during such attacks.
“We demand the immediate arrest of the owners of the three vehicles [that were spotted in the area] and the financiers of this evil act. We further challenge Matiang’i to crack the whip on errant security officials suspected to be facilitating bandit attacks.”
Boundary dispute
The MP alleged that the dawn attack was well planned and coordinated with the ill-intention of displacing residents from their land.
She added that the attacks are fuelled by boundary disputes between Isiolo and Wajir counties with Hadado as the epicenter.
Ms Jaldesa said Hadado is a disputed area yet the government created a sub-county there and placed it under Wajir County.
She accused the government of fueling the acts through discriminatory actions, favouring people from Northern Kenya over their counterparts from Upper Eastern.
Possible court action
Ms Jaldesa further said the issue of the disputed area is emotive so the government should address it to prevent more deaths.
“We are aware that the destruction of properties and the only source of water is part of a larger strategy to discourage settlement, displace indigenous people and annex part of Madowale and other locations in Isiolo so they can be part of the newly-created Hadado Sub-county,” she claimed.
“This is unacceptable. We will resist the annexing of even a single inch of our land by unorthodox means,” she added.
Former Sericho MCA Mohamed Nura echoed Ms Jaldesa sentiments, saying the senseless killings are fueled by expansionists who want to “take over Isiolo land”.
“We demand that Hadado be brought back to Isiolo County or else we will move to court to challenge its annexing,” he said.
