Seven arrested in Moyale as Kenya Defence Forces deployed

Four Kenya police reservists and three civilians have been arrested and an AK-47 rifle recovered as Kenya Defence Forces soldiers were deployed in the wake of inter-clan clashes in the area last week.

Residents on Thursday claimed 10 people had been killed following the resumption of fighting last Monday.

The National Assembly on Friday approved a decision by President Uhuru Kenyatta to send in the troops to four counties in northern Kenya following the violence after it was presented for debate on Thursday night. (READ: MPs clear soldiers to stop clan fights in Marsabit, Samburu, West Pokot and Turkana)

Last Friday, Moyale MP Roba Duba linked the violence in Marsabit to the sharing of county government jobs, saying the skewed structure of the county government was the root cause of the violence.

The MP warned that the unequal allocation of resources, including the distribution of executive positions by Governor Ukur Yatani, has caused serious problems in the region.

“The county government as currently constituted is unable to provide any form of facilitation for peace,” he said.

Mr Duba had dismissed comments by Marsabit Senator Abubakar Harugura and his Mandera counterpart Billow Kerrow that the insecurity is tribal, stating that the conflict was primary caused by the inequitable distribution of resources.

“The allusion that some Members of Parliament were responsible for the trouble in the county is the height of irresponsibility ever seen in the history of violence in the region,” he said.