More than 400 families displaced by armed Pokot bandits in Mochongoi, Baringo South subcounty, have appealed for help.
Attackers from neighboring Tiaty subcounty shot and injured a woman at Chebinyiny village on Sunday and burned 17 houses.
Mochongoi location chief Patrick Chepsoi Kamerey linked the attack to disputes over pasture and water sources amid the prolonged drought.
“[The attackers] pretended to ask for land to graze their animals but turned on the residents," he said.
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Residents of Mochongoi, Baringo South subcounty, who have been displaced by Pokot bandits, during a meeting on February 5, 2017. /JOSEPH KANGOGO
Kamerey said no deaths were reported during the attack but that
Tugen residents were left homeless and hungry at Kabel and Tuiyotich villages in Mochongoi.
He said some of the villages affected were
Kabel, Kapkechir, Kamuryan, Lomoiwet, Tuiyotich, Arabal, Chebinyiny, Nyimbei and Sampaka.
“Owing to fears of more attacks they opted to move to safer grounds but they are now
can't feed their families, graze their livestock and take their children to school," said the chief.
He noted that two schools were closed.
Kamerey urged the government to pitch police posts and
deploy more security officers for round-the-clock patrols.
Resident Elizabeth Kabon told the Star on Friday that she was housing 10 families displaced after the attack.
“They have children but I don’t have any food to give them. I am urging the government to chip in for their food and shelter," she said.
Baringo Deputy Governor Mathew Tuitoek visited the area on Thursday and donated 50 bags of maize.
“It is not much but it will help. We are asking well-wishers to bring us food," said Tuitoek.
He asked the government to resettle displaced families and send more police officers to prevent more raids.
“School children have been displaced and moved far from schools," he added.
Baringo Deputy Governor Mathew Tuioek donates 50 bags of maize to residents of Mochongoi, Baringo South subcounty, who were displaced by Pokot bandits, February 5, 2017. /JOSEPH KANGOGO
Last week, Baringo county commissioner peter Okanyo asked pastoralist communities to live together peacefully during the drought.
“You need to live peacefully and share water and pasture until it rains in April when the Pokots will go back home," he said.
But the people said the Pokots were attacking them and stealing their livestock.
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