Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Prof Kithure Kindiki has pledged to persist until he eradicates the banditry menace bedevilling the country, outlining a raft of measures that he intends to implement to accomplish his mission.
Speaking in Lodwar on Thursday, after holding meetings with the county security committee and elected leaders, Prof Kindiki said the government was prepared to deploy extraordinary force against the bandits with the aim of permanently defeating them.
“Going forward, we shall see less of these incursions because of the ground and air assets that we are going to employ. We will show no mercy to bandits because the only language they understand is fire, and we have enough of it,” Prof Kindiki said.
The CS further said that the government will engage communities in peace-building programmes, spanning borders and counties, aiming for sustainable peace infrastructure owned by the people, not security forces.
“But in the meantime we must crush the aggressors,” Prof Kindiki said, adding that the government will not entertain any dialogue with the bandits.
“It is our view that no such discussion should go on until first we subdue the aggressors. You create a culture of impunity when you entertain discussions,” he said.
Police reservists
Prof Kindiki announced that the government will deploy 468 additional national police reservists to areas facing security challenges, including Turkana East, parts of Turkana South, Loima, Nadapal, Kibish, and Todonyang.
Despite acknowledging some progress in addressing banditry, Prof Kindiki expressed regret over the theft of 6,800 livestock in the county over the past six months. Of these, 5,600 livestock have been recovered.
“I have instructed the county security team to look for the remainder of the stolen livestock and hand it over to the owners,” said Kindiki.
In the last two months, including this week, 2,000 goats and sheep have been returned to their owners, the CS said.
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Meanwhile, the government is providing security forces in banditry-stricken areas with modern equipment to enhance operations and to minimize casualties among officers.
Last week, Prof Kindiki commissioned armored personnel carriers for use by security forces, stating that some of them will be allocated to Turkana County to fight banditry.
The CS said another consignment of modern equipment including air assets will coordinate with the ground teams.
‘The air assets are armoured so that they are able to carry out kinetic operations from the air and that is the only language that bandits and livestock thieves understand,’ he said.
Prof Kindiki urged the public to remain patient as the government tackles the menace.
Additional reporting by KNA / Peter Gitonga
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