• Multiagency teams are involved in Operation Maliza Uhalifu North Rift.
• The operation covers Baringo, Samburu, Laikipia, Turkana, West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
Image: NPS
The ongoing operation to restore stability in part of North Rift received a boost when Samburu residents surrendered five rifles to police.
Police said the five men from Parikat also surrendered more than 10,000 bullets on Saturday.
“We continue to urge the residents to cooperate with authorities in addressing insecurity,” police spokesperson Dr Resla Onyango said.
Samburu is among areas badly affected by banditry and has left dozens dead and displaced.
Multiagency teams are involved in Operation Maliza Uhalifu North Rift.
The operation covers Baringo, Samburu, Laikipia, Turkana, West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
So far more than 200 assorted guns and bullets have been recovered.
On Friday, police officers in Baringo county recovered 225 goats that had been stolen by bandits in Baringo North subcounty.
The officers drawn from the larger ‘Operation Maliza Uhalifu North Rift’ team swung into action after a distress call was raised at Ngaratuko grazing field in the locality.
The officers intercepted the bandits in Tiaty East subcounty and overpowered them after a fire exchange.
"The security team subdued the bandits after a fierce fire exchange, hence recovering all the stolen animals,” Onyango said.
"We acknowledge the vital role played by the local communities in the fight against banditry and cattle rustling, and commend them for their support that lead to the recovery of the stolen livestock."
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki recently increased the number of security personnel in the area to put an end to the banditry menace.
“We are upscaling the numbers of security agents we have. We are doubling them, and as I have announced, this deployment will not cease with the end of the operation," the CS said when he appeared before Parliament.
New Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Douglas Kanja was to lead the ongoing operation against banditry.
Inspector General of police Japhet Koome said Kanja was ordered to remain on the ground and lead the Operation Maliza Uhalifu North Rift and address the menace.
He said Kanja will replace his Administration Police Service counterpart Noor Gabow who will now focus on border security.
More than 150 people have been killed and many injured in the past seven months.
The military is embedded in the multi agency operation that is being led by police.
Kindiki imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew in banditry-prone areas as he declared them disturbed and dangerous. He also declared parts of North Rift that have been affected by insecurity disturbed and dangerous.
He said murderous gangs have in recent days escalated their terror on innocent Kenyans and law enforcement agencies and in the process burnt down schools, police vehicles and other social amenities.
“During the attacks, hundreds of Kenyans have been displaced from their homes.”
Kindiki said the government has determined the security situation currently prevailing in the northern Rift Valley region as a national emergency.
"Accordingly, painful and decisive measures must be taken effective immediately," he said.
Kindiki ordered residents in some areas to leave to enhance the operation.
Defence CS Aden Duale is among top security officials who have visited various forward operating areas to check on the progress of the war on banditry in the region.
They reaffirmed the government’s commitment to end banditry, restore peace and normalcy in the six counties declared as dangerous and disturbed.
They said the multi-agency approach has enhanced their interoperability, skills sharing and synergy that has made it possible to coordinate the operation across the six counties covering Operation Maliza Uhalifu (OMU).