- The month-long operation started on May 2 and will be extended to Sololo, where suspected Oromo Liberation Front militias are active.
- Laikipia multi-agency operations entered its post-conflict stabilisation phase.
Image: NPS
A GSU commander who steered a security operation in Laikipia last year has been redeployed to Marsabit county for a similar mission.
Bernard Kituku Mbatha is now the commander of Operation Rejesha Amani Marsabit.
The operation aims at restoring peace and security in the region and neighbouring Isiolo county.
Mbatha is seen as a successful commander given his experience in Laikipia county.
Police spokesman Bruno Shioso on Monday said Mbatha was redeployed to lead a new team in the Marsabit security operation, where he continues to register impressive success.
“The Laikipia multi-agency operation entered its post-conflict stabilisation phase and the new NPS commander joined a team that continues to support residents.
"The team helps build new roads, sink boreholes, construct dams and water pans and provide school mentorship programmes,” he said.
Shioso said police deployed additional specialised troops to help in surveillance and intelligence collection to support the ongoing operations.
“The new teams will leverage intelligence collected by earlier teams with their advanced surveillance technology capabilities recently acquired by the National Police Service. They will ensure a quick and efficient response by security officers when insecurity incidents are reported,” he said.
The Marsabit operation has progressed according to plans and police say there have been no attacks as in the past months.
The security team conducting the operation is now in possession of 14 assault rifles, a general purpose machine gun, 617 rounds of assorted ammunitions and other crude weapons illegally held by residents.
The recoveries were made in various subcounties of Marsabit between May 10 and 13.
The officers in the operation said they had also burst a racket of drug traffickers and recovered a large haul of marijuana.
Police and administrative officers in the operation agreed to sustain awareness forums aimed at urging residents to voluntarily surrender arms.
They say the operation is not meant to target any community but to fish out criminals in the entire county.
More than ten suspects are facing various charges in connection with the recoveries made so far and killings that have happened in the area.
The operation is being led by security teams drawn from the GSU, the Rapid Deployment Unit, the Quick Response Unit and the Anti Stock Theft Unit.
The month-long operation started on May 2 and will be extended to Sololo, where suspected Oromo Liberation Front militias are active.
Other areas include Kom and Merti in Isiolo county.
Regional police boss Rono Bunei said the exercise is going on well and they have identified and arrested some of those behind the violence.
“We are determined to continue for the sake of peace,” he said.
The operation was launched after six people were killed in a Marsabit attack on April 28
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i said the operation will run in tandem with a disarmament exercise targeting illegal guns and ammunition.
Matiang'i said the National Security Council decided to launch “Operation Rejesha Amani Marsabit” following incessant inter-ethnic attacks.
He said the assailants have defied peace initiatives including the lapse of the 30-day window sought by county leaders to secure reconciliation.
The animosity between the Borana and Gabra communities has progressively boiled over and Matiang’i has expressed concerns over political leaders who have frustrated previous attempts to pacify the area.
The CS said rival groups have been armed and transformed into competitive political militias, meting out violence on innocent civilians.
He said the result is a costly security challenge in the country.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)