- The bandits are said to have ambushed the officers while they were driving back stolen cattle.
- The officers are attached to Matabithi police post in Tigania East, Meru.
Image: GERALD MUTETHIA
A police officer was shot dead by bandits in Matabithi, Tigania on Sunday evening.
His colleague who sustained injuries is being treated at Galaxy Hospital in Isiolo.
The bandits are said to have ambushed the officers while they were driving back stolen cattle.
The officers are attached to Matabithi police post in Tigania East, Meru.
Meru county commissioner Fred Ngumo on Monday said they are probing the incident and will soon apprehend the culprits.
“Our officer’s killing is an attempt to throw a stone at a beehive. We have added 10 more police officers at Gambella. We are looking into ways of facilitating their patrols. We can’t allow this to continue,” he said.
The commissioner said the assailants must be met with the necessary force.
He also said any chief who allows camels from the neighbouring Isiolo county risks being sacked.
Some 12 people have been killed and others wounded in the bandit attacks within three months.
Tigania East subcounty police commander Peter Karanja also condemned the attack on his officers.
Last week, four people were shot dead at Kiambogo by armed assailants.
Residents believe camel herders from Isiolo are behind the heinous act.
Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi had said chiefs who collude with herders to allow camels in Meru will be sacked.
Meru county assembly majority leader Victor Karithi said President Uhuru Kenyatta and Interior CS Fred Matiang'i should disarm the bandits.
"We visited two patients with serious gun shot wounds. Four people are lying at the Isiolo morgue as a result of these criminals. The families are largely unable to even bury the bodies," he said.
"If this is not a matter that should interest the President and Matiang'i, I don't know what should," Karithi said.
On January 5, seven Meru residents were ambushed along the disputed grazing zone by suspected camel herders from Isiolo.
The retaliatory attack came after angry residents drove the herders' camels out of their farms.
Meru herder’s association chairman Charles Kamwibua said security officers should listen to the farmer’s woes.
"Camel herders do not bother about crops. Their animals feed on them. We met security agencies and explained the situation on December 23 but they never drove the camels away," he said.
Several prominent leaders including ODM leader Raila Odinga have decried the attacks, however, no arrests have been made.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)