Memories of the North Rift killings still haunt me: Governor Natembeya

Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya has recalled his encounter with horrific scenes of killings by bandits in the North Rift, noting that the memories still haunt him, and sometimes finds himself crying.

In an exclusive interview with Nation.Africa, the former Rift Valley administrator said the military should take full command of the fight against bandits in the North Rift, noting that they stand a chance to eliminate the terror gangs terrorizing residents.

“Sometimes I just cry alone when I remember how bandits killed innocent residents. As a human being, those images of people murdered by bullets take me down,” he said in the interview at his official office at Town Hall, Kitale Town.

The Trans Nzoia Governor is a former Rift Valley Regional Commissioner who served in the position for three years.

Among the memories that still haunt him is of a small girl whose body was riddled with several bullets from bandits who killed her while on a revenge mission.

“I remember what I saw there and I just cry alone,” he said, his voice dropping.

“It is terrifying how people are killed. Imagine the gunmen pumping more than 20 bullets into a small girl’s body. It is chilling. We have turned human beings into animals,” recalled the former administrator.

In a previous interview with NTV, Natembeya shared his experience as the regional administrator, detailing the complexities that define the banditry menace in the Kenyan North and how top government officials and politicians frustrated the war against the criminal activities in the troubled region.

Known politicians, he said in the 2023 interview, were the main beneficiaries of the banditry that has claimed hundreds of lives over the years.

In the latest interview with Nation.Africa, the governor struggled to keep his emotions in check, taking pauses as if reliving the gory moments, as he narrated how the cold blood murders by the North Rift criminals left a disturbed him.  He regretted the inability of the government to help due to the lack of proper budgetary support for the security apparatus in the area

“The situation there is bad. The chilling and gory images have never faded from my mind,” a visibly disturbed Natembeya said, as he shared the challenges of insecurity in the disturbed North Rift counties.

He spoke as governors from three North Rift counties urged the government to consider a more aggressive approach in the fight against banditry and even consider shooting to kill the suspects.

Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Wisley Rotich said this week that lethal means are needed to firmly deal with bandits behind the insecurity mayhem happening in the North Rift, courtesy of the armed criminals and cattle rustlers.

“The government should not spare bandits who have continued to kill innocent civilians in our regions. Let them also be killed the same way they are killing our people,” Rotich said.

As the regional administrator, Natembeya said he was able to witness some of the scenes of crime firsthand, and came face to face with the suffering of the locals, unlike his bosses who often made technical appearances.

Natembea, who resigned from his position to contest the Trans Nzoia gubernatorial position, narrated the many times he witnessed bodies of locals killed by bandits, regretting the inability of the government to help due to lack of proper budgetary support for the security apparatus in the area.

According to Mr Natembeya, top government leaders never get to see the real picture on the ground as they are protected from seeing images of killings in the region. In his opinion, this prevents the government from making serious decisions to deal with the situation.

He insisted that the government should set aside an affirmative kitty to specifically deal with the insecurity in the North Rift, alongside serious investments in infrastructural development to open up the region.

“These killings are not just statistics as they show how badly the situation is out of hand,” he stated, noting that banditry in the region is a well-planned and funded activity by people who benefit from the insecurity situation of the region.

His suggestion on the strategy the government should apply to save the region from bloodshed was that the Ruto administration request Parliament to give the Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) full command of the region to crush the bandits without mercy.

He noted that conflicting commands from both KDF and police units have undermined security operations in the region due to confusion and a seemingly competing agenda between security organs.

The government early last year deployed a military-backed multi-agency security team to execute the "Operation Maliza Uhalifu North Rift" operation in the six counties of Baringo, Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Samburu, and Laikipia counties.

Isiolo and Meru counties have recently been included among counties targeted in the security operation to flush out armed criminals terrorizing residents and illegal guns, Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome said this week.

Mr Natembeya cautioned that unless the government trains all its energies on the North Rift insecurity, the problem will continue to mess up the region.

“This insecurity issue of the North Rift should not be taken casually or as a ‘by-the-way routine security action.’ It must be fought with all the energy and all the security machinery the government has in control,” he advised.

The Trans Nzoia County boss cited a lack of political goodwill from leaders in the region as among the greatest challenges, noting that some top leaders are the financiers of banditry, even accusing cartels of well-connected leaders in the government of undermining efforts to end the vice.

“It is really sad that some of these leaders are the ones who fund the bandits. You hold security meetings with them during the day and at night they are meeting the bandits to give them intelligence and plan attacks,” he said.

He also called on religious leaders to help preach peace and cohesion among communities in the region, noting that outdated cultural beliefs have greatly undermined efforts to bring peace to the region.

“This problem requires collective goodwill to end the persisting banditry that is threatening the socio-economic health of the region. The government must now change tact and face this menace head-on,” he said.