The multi-agency Maliza Uhalifu security operation to flush out bandits and recover illegal firearms in the North Rift is facing a litmus test following fresh attacks that have claimed more than 10 lives in the past week.
Unlike in the past, armed criminals appear to have changed tactics and are now lying in wait, attacking their targets without warning before fleeing without stealing animals in an attempt to outwit security personnel.
Security officers have been camping in the area for almost a year in an attempt to flush out the bandits and restore law and order.
In the latest attack on Monday, three family members were shot dead while three others sustained serious gunshot wounds in Baringo North sub-county.
The family members – Victor Yego, 30, his wife Valentine Yego, 28, and their two-year-old child – were sprayed with bullets in a fresh bandit attack along the volatile Yatya-Chemoe road in Baringo North.
The couple had boarded the motorcycle from Marigat town in Baringo South and were heading to Chemoe village for an initiation ceremony when they were ambushed and shot by the attackers, suspected to be from the neighbouring Tiaty constituency.
“The deceased were heading for a cultural ceremony when they were attacked by a gunman who shot dead a man, his wife and their child. The two motorcyclists and one passenger sustained gunshot injuries and are receiving treatment at the Baringo County Referral Hospital,” said Julius Kiragu, Baringo County Police Commander.
The incident is believed to have been a revenge attack following the killing of a herder from the Pokot community last week.
The suspected revenge attack came barely four days after three peace ambassadors, including a primary school teacher from Endo village in Marakwet East, were shot dead by armed criminals suspected to be from the neighbouring community, dealing a major blow to the quest for peace in the region.
Elgeyo Marakwet County police boss Peter Mulinge on Tuesday said a contingent of security personnel had been deployed along the troubled Kerio Valley after the three peace ambassadors were killed last Friday while on a mission to receive stolen goats handed over by the Pokot community.
“A multi-agency team comprising of the General Service Unit, the Anti Stock Theft Unit, the Rapid Deployment Unit and the police are pursuing the attackers,” Mulinge said.
The slain peace ambassadors have been identified as Patrick Komen, 61, Joseph Suter, 43, and Eliud Kipkeu, 23.
“It is unfortunate that the attack occurred a day after elders from both the Marakwet and Pokot communities agreed on various resolutions on how to co-exist peacefully,” Mulinge said.
Attacks in the Kerio Valley belt have claimed more than 300 lives and displaced hundreds of families in the past year.
The government has allocated Sh7 billion to upgrade security equipment as it intensifies the fight against crime.
According to Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki, the first consignment of modern equipment, including MRAPs, aerial surveillance kits, drones and personal protective gear, is expected to arrive in the country any time now.
“The government aims at eradicating the menace of banditry and destroying its political, cultural and commercial networks. 2024 is a decisive year. The suppression of bandit terror will give way to the opening up of the region through social amenities, economic infrastructure and durable peace,” said Kindiki.
The quest for peace among warring pastoralist groups in the North Rift region is taking a new approach as the government turns to elders to recover stolen animals and weapons and promote harmonious co-existence.
Administrators and elders from the Pokot, Marakwet, Turkana, Tugen and Illchamus communities, among others, are taking part in a series of peace meetings aimed at curbing further cattle rustling and banditry.
For two years, the guns have been silent and the Kerio Valley, a region that has been rocked by banditry attacks since 2016, has begun to boom with traditional markets opening and agriculture flourishing.
Spanning the three counties of Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot and Baringo, the Kerio Valley is home to two dominant, warring communities – the Marakwet and the Pokot.
