Makeshift police camp at Kerio Valley to boost security

Deputy President William Ruto’s order to move police officers from their current stations on the Marakwet side of the border to the Pokot side has taken effect.

Dozens of officers today set up temporary camps along the Kerio River banks as calm returned to the region.

In the recent past, clashes between communities from West Pokot and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties has claimed at least 20 lives.

The new development comes as five suspects, among them two spiritual leaders, have been arrested over persistent cattle raids in the region.

They were arrested in Baringo County after additional security officers were deployed to crack down on suspects fuelling retaliatory attacks between the warring Marakwet and Pokot communities.

Baringo County Commissioner Peter Okwanyo said security teams from Elgeyo-Marakwet and Baringo counties are hunting for the ring leader blamed for the killings of three people in several locations in Marakwet East and Kolowa in Tiaty Sub-County.

“The two spiritual leaders have been arraigned in court to face charges for administering oaths to warriors who participate in the attacks,” said Mr Okwanyo.

SUSPECTED SPIRITUAL LEADERS

He said one of the spiritual leaders, referred to by the community as a laibon, is still at large.

Mr Okwanyo said police are hunting down the laibon.

“The law will act tough against individuals who fuel the armed conflicts irrespective of their position in the society,” warned Mr Okwanyo.

He said relative calm had returned in the volatile Kerio Valley region following deployment of addition security forces to crack down on the attackers and help restore peace.

“Security measures have been put in place to recover the stolen animals and arrest the remaining suspects behind the attacks,” said Mr Okwanyo.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery has warned of forcible disarmament if the communities do not register their arms.

The influx of weapons from the Great Lakes countries has been blamed for the recurrent cattle raids among members of the pastoralist communities in the region.

But armed raiders from warring communities in the region are reluctant to surrender illegal weapons despite deployment of additional security personnel to quell heightened tension.

Police say the raiders are instead acquiring more sophisticated weapons and staging retaliatory attacks especially along the borders of Baringo, West Pokot and Turkana.

“The illegal firearms so far registered is a drop in the ocean and armed raiders need to take advantage of the amnesty window to record the weapons or face [forcible] disarmament,” warned Mr Okwanyo.

He disclosed that Pokot and Marakwet elders are to meet the National Cohesion and Integration Commission in Nakuru on Wednesday on how to resolve armed conflict in the Kerio Valley region.