The guns are being seized, bandits hunted, and markets reopened. Yet in parts of Kenya’s troubled Kerio Valley, some residents still clutch their weapons, convinced that surrendering them could leave them exposed.
Nearly a year into the government’s intensified disarmament campaign, security agencies say they have recovered 370 illegal firearms and more than 2,500 rounds of ammunition. Drones, patrols and community engagement have increased pressure on armed criminals.
But some residents still view guns as protection against attack. Elgeyo Marakwet police commander Peter Mulinge says some people continue to possess illegal firearms and should surrender them or face arrest and prosecution.
“We still have some individuals who are in possession of illegal firearms, but we ask them to surrender before they face arrest and prosecution,” he said.
Several suspects arrested last week in Embobut, Marakwet East, allegedly told police the firearms were for protection.
The Kerio Valley spans Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot and Baringo counties and has long been associated with armed conflict involving several communities, including the Pokot, Marakwet, Turkana, Tugen, Ilchamus and Samburu.
Banditry has claimed lives, displaced families and disrupted livelihoods, earning the region the “Kosovo of Kenya” tag because of recurring retaliatory attacks.
Residents of Akoret in Tiaty, Baringo County test their guns before registering during a past peace campaign.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
The government now plans to establish a military camp, create additional administrative units and acquire modern security equipment as it seeks to consolidate the relative calm.
Mr Mulinge says intensified patrols have helped restore security and enable residents to resume economic activities. Markets are reopening, farmers are returning to their fields, and pastoralists are increasingly cultivating crops.
In Tot, agricultural extension officer William Chepting’ says more pastoralists are growing bananas, paw paws, mangoes and cassava through irrigation.
“What we are experiencing is more pastoralists growing bananas, paw paws, mangoes and cassava under furrow irrigation schemes shared among members of the Pokot and Turkana pastoral communities as a result of the prevailing peace,” he said.
The schemes include Katilu, Nakwamoru, Lotubae and Wei Wei along the Kerio River belt. Although drip irrigation is being promoted for its efficiency, residents favour furrow irrigation because of abundant water and the valley’s terrain.
The disarmament campaign combines persuasion with enforcement. Residents who voluntarily surrender illegal firearms are offered amnesty, while those who resist face arrest and prosecution.
Mr Mulinge says 150 guns have been voluntarily surrendered following appeals by chiefs, elders and religious leaders.
“We have so far recovered 150 guns willingly handed over by the residents. We are encouraging individuals in possession of illegal firearms to surrender them under the current amnesty, but those who defy the order face arrest and prosecution,” he said.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen says drone surveillance has changed how security teams track criminals, weakened their networks and helped accelerate the recovery of illegal weapons.
“The drone technology enabled us to monitor the criminals, and they now have no option but to surrender and hand over the illegal firearms,” Mr Murkomen said recently at a rally in Moiben, Uasin Gishu County.
The government last year announced plans to allocate Sh7 billion annually to modernise security equipment, including Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, aerial surveillance equipment and protective gear.
The region has reportedly gone two years without major gun attacks, creating space for economic activity that had been repeatedly interrupted by violence.
For displaced families, greater security offers a chance to return home. For traders, reopened markets provide access to customers and income. For pastoralists, crop farming presents an alternative to an economy centred almost entirely on livestock.
That shift matters because cattle raids have historically helped fuel cycles of armed confrontation between communities.
In the irrigation belts, farmers are now planting crops that can be sold locally, turning water and fertile land into sources of income rather than merely sustaining subsistence.
For the government, therefore, the challenge is twofold: remove weapons already in communities and change the perception that possessing one is essential to personal security.
The choice being presented to residents is increasingly direct. They can surrender illegal firearms through the amnesty, security agencies say, or risk arrest and prosecution.
Whether that choice takes hold will depend not only on the number of guns recovered, but on whether the peace now visible in markets, farms and irrigation schemes can convince residents that security can be maintained without them.
