Baringo banditry shall end within 90 days of Ruto’s tenure - Gachagua

Deputy President William Ruto shall end banditry attacks in Baringo within 90 days if elected president on August 9th, his running mate Rigathi Gachagua has said. 

Gachagua attributed the ongoing runaway insecurity in the country, especially in Baringo county and parts of the North Rift region to a lack of political goodwill under President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration.

“All the problems of underdevelopment in the banditry-prone areas of the county starts and ends with unresolved challenge of insecurity,” Gachagua said.

He spoke while addressing hundreds of attendants during a bottom-up consultative meeting held at Kabarnet showground, Baringo on Thursday.

Gachagua, Mathira Member of Parliament (MP), however, urged the residents of Baringo to vote for Deputy President William Ruto as the 5th president.

“After which I personally will push to finish banditry and cattle rustling which has bedevilled the people of Baringo and the Nation since the 1960s. This is my personal assurance and if I fail then blame it on me,” he said.

Besides lack of political goodwill, Gachagua further blamed president Uhuru Kenyatta-led jubilee government for failing to pump in more funds to the security department to help pursue and flash out the armed bandits.

“Personally, I will push DP Ruto’s administration being his deputy to allocate more funds to the security sector to facilitate the officers to conduct necessary investigations and deal with the banditry menace once and for all,” he said, adding that he has once served in the security sector before and he knows.

He said insecurity must come to an end once and for all in the country so that our fellow Kenyans can embark on their normal development activities.

“Our people need good roads, markets, schools and health facilities,” he said.

“It cannot be after 60 years, people cannot sleep well in their homes, feed and educate their children yet the constitution clearly indicates that the government of the day is charged with protecting the lives and the properties of people,” Gachagua said.

So far more than 100 people have lost their lives in Baringo alone, several injured and thousands displaced owing to the ongoing banditry in parts of Kerio valley, Baringo North and Baringo South Sub-counties.

In attendance were Baringo UDA Gubernotorial nominee Benjamin Cheboi and his Elgeyo-Marakwet counterpart Wesley Rotich.

Other UDA nominees present were the East Africa Legislative Assembly(EALA) MP Florence Jematia, Woman Rep aspirant, Baringo senatorial UDA nominee William Cheptumo, Mogotio mp aspirant Reuben Kiborek, Musa Sirma(Eldama-Ravine), Charles Kamuren(Baringo South) and Joseph Makilap(Baringo North).

Cheptumo said having served for three terms as MP for Baringo North, he has always been tackling the challenge of insecurity.

“I have since buried an uncountable number of my people who were killed in cold blood and their livestock was driven away by the merciless armed bandits,” he said.

He, therefore, noted that it was the first time in history of Kenya a presidential candidate is engaging the people on their needs ahead of the election.

“DP Ruto has scored and broken record on this” Cheptumo said.

Cheboi also backed Gachagua's call to end banditry saying insecurity has derailed development projects making people become victims of illiteracy, food insecurity and hunger-related illnesses.