‘Meru ni ATM yetu’ (Meru is our ATM) is a statement made in jest among pastoral communities in the upper Eastern region about effortless and successful cattle raids by bandits along the Meru-Isiolo border.
Armed with guns and not ATM cards, the bandits raid the 265-kilometre square northern grazing zone and make a way with hundreds of cattle and goats.
This happens especially after devastating droughts with the pastoralists claiming the raids are meant to “restock” their flock.
Last week, despite enhanced security, bandits escorted 819 cattle, goats, and sheep in six daring raids that were marked with several hours of gunfire exchange with officers.
The banditry has remained prevalent for years with herders incurring huge losses evident from their demands in 2019 when they asked the government to pay them Sh374 million as compensation for stolen animals.
In the most recent daring daylight attack last week, the raiders engaged police in a 10-hour gun battle, before making away with more than 150 cattle at Ngaathu in Igembe North.
Last year at the height of banditry attacks, former Interior Cabinet Secretary, Kithure Kindiki promised to gazette the Igembe region as a troubled area and mount a multiagency security operation, which was never actualised.
However, Meru County Commissioner Jacob Ouma on Monday said the police have so far recovered 582 cattle and goats stolen last week.
The surprise raids left three herders and one police officer dead, while several others were nursing gunshot wounds.
“The raids occurred between July 6 and 12, but we have managed to recover 556 cattle, 21 goats, and five sheep. We assure our herders that the security teams are now well prepared to deal with the raids,” Mr Ouma said.
The heavily armed and well-organised cattle rustlers have improved their tactics following the deployment of armored personnel carriers in the grazing zone along the Meru-Isiolo border.
“They were raiding different locations at short intervals to confuse and overwhelm the police. They also hold down security officers until dark so that they are not pursued by the APCs. When darkness falls, it is easy for them to spot the APC,” Mr Festus Gichunge, a herder said.
After staging their first raid on July 6, the raiders took advantage of the focus on tracking the stolen animals and struck again on Sunday.
“We have discovered that they were attacking in gangs of about 20. There is a group that attacks, while others lay ambush and prepare to offer backup. As the gunfight ensues, another group drives away the animals,” Gichunge recounts.
Ndumuru herders’ chairman, Genesio Gitonga, said the bandits are also using a scare tactic by killing immediately they strike to create fear.
“During one of the attacks last week, we engaged the bandits from midday until 4am. During the gunfight, we managed to recover some of the animals in three separate herds. However, they managed to make away with over 150 cattle,” Mr Gitonga said.
He said the rampant attacks have impoverished herders in the Antuambui area after losing more than 600 cattle in the recent past.
Mr Mucheke Thinkii, who lost 59 cattle last week, said they were still tracking them in Samburu County where they vanished after a night of chase.
“We pursued the stolen cattle on Monday last week and were able to trace them to Mlima Bendera in Samburu. We have leads and I believe the police will be able to recover the animals,” Mr Thinkii, a Njuri Ncheke official said.
Following the rampant raids, residents have now intensified calls for a security operation as pledged by Prof Kindiki last year.
Igembe North MP Julius Taitumu said the continued theft of cattle in the area was a big economic setback.
“Despite the government training many reservists and providing armored vehicles, we are still losing cattle. We want the government to conduct a security operation in Samburu to protect our animals from thieves. The bandits should know that there are consequences for theft,” Mr Taitumu said.
He also said the withdrawal of the Special Operations Group (SOG) unit from the area had emboldened the bandits.
SOG is a unit of the Administration Police that specialises in disarming criminals and was instrumental in recovering stolen cattle.
“For the two months the SOG unit was in Meru, we witnessed reduced incidents and substantial recovery of animals,” the MP said.
The county commissioner said the government has deployed an aircraft for aerial surveillance to ease tracking of the criminals.
