Poor planning led to the demise of 42 officers in Baragoi, says officer

Former Samburu North Deputy OCPD Benson Makori testifying in the High Court in Nakuru on December 09, 2015 in a case where a Samburu County MCA, four chiefs and two more people are facing trial over the 2012 Baragoi massacre that left 42 police officers dead. PHOTO | SULEIMAN MBATIAH | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • As a senior police officer on the ground, he had a lot of information on the best way the operation could have been conducted but top commanders ignored him.

Poor planning and preparation by security agencies led to the bungled Baragoi mission in which 42 police officers were killed by raiders, the High Court heard Thursday.

A senior superintendent of police who led the botched mission revealed that he had initially opposed the operation because his team was not adequately armed.

Mr Benson Moindi told Judge Maureen Odero that the heavy loss was  occasioned by tactical blunders and lack of relevant information from the National Intelligence Service (NIS), prior to the operation.

“I was opposed to the idea of conducting the ill-fated operation which l saw as risky since we were not adequately armed,” he said.

SENIOR OFFICERS IGNORED ADVICE

As a senior police officer on the ground, he had a lot of information on the best way the operation could have been conducted.

However his seniors ignored him and insisted that they had to pursue the cattle rustlers who had stolen more than 500 heads of cattle.

The officer was among five who escaped death by a whisker after eluding the attackers.

He was testifying in a case in which Nachola Ward representative Lawrence Lorunyei, chiefs Christopher Lokerach, Enoi Lesike, Amojong Loturo and Jeremiah Ekurao, police reservist Loomira Looyen and ranger Ekai Loyee have denied involvement in the November, 2012 Baragoi killings.

In his testimony, Mr Moindi, then the Samburu North deputy OCPD, said the officers who embarked on the mission were ill-equipped and not sufficient.

“We were overpowered after my colleague Inspector Mark Kemboi who was carrying  bombs and whom we relied on a lot was shot dead. I later discovered that the attackers were armed with sophisticated weapons including  AK-47 and the Mark 4 rifles used during the Second World War,” he recounted.

On the other hand, most of the police officers were inexperienced young men, many of whom had served less than two years and had no knowledge of neither field combat nor the terrain of the ‘deadly valley’.

During the testimony it also emerged that the failed mission could have backfired following leakage of information by a person who had infiltrated the police forces.

“The attackers were not so many, but the way they had organised themselves, it was like they had received information earlier,” said Mr Moindi.

However, till now there is  confusion as to how many police officers died in the massacre, he said. “Bodies of two of my colleagues have never been recovered to date,” he added

Hearing of the case was postponed to February 23, 2016 when four other witnesses, including a doctor who conducted post-mortem on the slain officers’ bodies are set to testify.