The government will crack down on a gang of killers posing as herders and encroaching grazing land. Eastern regional coordinator Wycliffe Ogolla on Monday said the government will not allow some people to compromise security of Kitui residents.
“Let these killers not harbour the slightest notion they can overwhelm the government. They are badly mistaken. The government will deal with them firmly to end the killing menace,” Ogolla said. He said the government will not only disarm illegal gunholders, but will expel the herders from Kitui.
Last week, three people were shot dead and their bodies mutilated.
Ogolla spoke when he led the region’s security team in a tour of Ngomeni and Ukasi wards, Kitui county.
Present were county commissioner Boaz Cherutich, Mwingi North MP John Munuve, Ngomeni MCA Nzungi Ngwele and Ukasi MCA Nelson Kitema.
They toured the killing hotspots where residents have fled their homes and are living in the bush for fear of attacks by bandits they call Somali herders.
In Ngomeni and Kasiluni trading centres,tension was high and residents were moving around armed, with bows and arrows.
Regional director of CID Henry Ondiek said the government does not licence members of the public to own AK47 rifles. “It is a serious offence for anyone to be found with one,” he said.
Munuve said at least 11 residents have been killed by the herders in the past year. He accused police of lethargy in pursuing the killers.
Ngwele said they will not lose their elective positions because of government’s failure to guarantee security of their voters’ lives and property.
