The government has transferred all local security chiefs on both sides of the Kisumu-Kericho border following escalating clashes in Sondu town that left seven people dead and some 200 families homeless.
The move comes hours before President William Ruto begins his four-day Nyanza tour, with his first stop in Kisumu on Friday.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki on Thursday announced the transfer of the police chiefs along with other security and public officials "whose lack of effectiveness, impartiality and/or competence is believed to have resulted in the success of the criminals".
At the same time, Prof Kindiki announced the deployment of a contingent of specialist security personnel to curb the escalation of violent crime in Sondu and its environs.
"Over the past two days, lives have been lost, property destroyed and public order severely undermined."
"The special deployment is to be supervised jointly by the Rift Valley and Nyanza regional security teams with firm instructions to ensure immediate resumption of normalcy and the arrest and prosecution of each and every perpetrator of the horrific crimes that have been committed against the people of Sondu town and its environs," the CS said.
He said additional measures to contain the situation and suppress further crime may be announced tomorrow after a "needs assessment and review of the effectiveness of the measures taken tonight".
