Leaders’ fury at renewed Tana bloodletting

What you need to know:

  • Furious ministers and MPs on Monday called for the immediate overhaul of the entire security forces, saying they had failed to secure Kenyans’ safety.
  • They said political posturing that has escalated the mayhem should be probed to ensure communities are not incited against each other for selfish political mileage.
  • Mudavadi expressed surprise that the ringleaders have yet to be identified and punished in an insurgency that has claimed close to 200 lives.
  • A statement from Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta also condemned the killings.

Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi has said the bloodletting by vigilante groups in Tana River must come to an end.

“We should not let innocent lives become collateral damage to bad politics. Let us not compromise on the security of our people,” he said.

He said political posturing that has escalated the mayhem should be probed to ensure communities are not incited against each other for selfish political mileage.

He expressed surprise that the ringleaders have yet to be identified and punished in an insurgency that has claimed close to 200 lives.

“The impunity may be part of a larger political engineering that will affect the coming elections, and more so a plot to undermine implementation of devolved governments,” he warned.

Furious ministers and MPs on Monday called for the immediate overhaul of the entire security forces, saying they had failed to secure Kenyans’ safety. (SEE IN PICTURES: Tana River clashes)

Fisheries development minister Amason Kingi urged the government to hunt down the masterminds of the clashes.

Speaking to journalists at Majengo in Kilifi on Saturday the minister said the government should find ways of restoring peace in the areas affected by clashes.

Mr Kingi blamed intelligence officers for failing to provide the government with information which could help fix the clashes in Tana.

His Malindi colleague, Mr Gideon Mung’aro, called for the deployment of the Military forces to deal with the Tana River issue, saying the regular and administration police were unable to quell the clashes.

Central Imenti MP Gitobu Imanyara asked that all political campaigns be immediately suspended until peace is restored in all parts of the country hit by insecurity.

A statement from Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta also condemned the killings. “It’s saddening to see lives being lost, homes being burnt down and livelihoods compromised,” the statement said.

“I appeal for calm in the area. Specifically, I urge all communities in the Tana Delta to initiate inter-community dialogue to promote peaceful co-existence,” Mr Kenyatta said.

“I challenge Elders and Youth leaders in the community to immediately commit to dialogue and commitment to reconciliation.

Such Talks should address the immediate need for restoration of calm, seek to heal the division created and aim at identifying what unites the communities as a way of ensuring lasting calm, ‘ he said.