• “This is not a banana republic, it’s a country with law and order, we need to be told who these criminals are and why are they operating with such precision,” Jama said.
• “There is a need to have more police stations in those disputed areas so as to forestall any attacks,” he said.
Former Garissa governor Nathif Jama has asked the Interior ministry to speedily probe and prosecute armed criminals killing residents.
He said it’s the national government’s responsibility to protect lives.
The former governor spoke during the launch of his gubernatorial bid on Sunday.
Jama said he does not understand why no one is being arrested over the continuous killings within Garissa town.
On Thursday, two people were killed on the outskirts of the Garissa town over land disputes.
Jama said both the national and county government have done little to resolve the thorny land issues.
Last week, MPs Dahiye Mohamed (Dadaab) and Sofia Abdi (Ijara) asked the county administrators to work hard to recover illegal firearms in the hands of civilians as the country readies for polls.
In December, police arrested suspected militants with four firearms among them three AK-47s and 203 bullets following a sting operation to weed out illegal weapons.
The officers managed to recover an Efen gun with two magazines and 35 bullets and three AK-47s with six magazines and 168 bullets.
They also recovered masks which the militants use to cover their face and suspected 40 litres of gun oil.
“This is not a banana republic, it’s a country with law and order, we need to be told who these criminals are and why are they operating with such precision,” Jama said.
He said he will engage local security actors to discuss modalities to have the town free from criminals.
Jama urged the police to smoke out criminals and their financiers, adding that everyone must be protected and feel safe from any harm.
On border clashes between Garissa and Isiolo, Jama took a swipe at the government saying despite the killings, there are no police stations in the disputed areas.
This is after two herders from Garissa’s Lagdera were killed by a suspected rival group from Isiolo county.
“There is a need to have more police stations in those disputed areas so as to forestall any attacks,” he said.
The gubernatorial aspirant said they do not understand the latest killings as there is plenty of pasture unlike during drought which tends to escalate conflicts.
“We must encourage good neighbourhoods, we cannot lose lives every day as a result of something that we can resolve,” the former governor said.
While launching his comeback to the county’s top leadership, he promised to improve water, health as well as education by recruiting more ECD teachers across the county.
He said he will revive Ugatuzi and Kazi projects that were one of his successes during his five-year tenure as the pioneer governor.
The project was aimed at improving the lives of underprivileged members of the community by employing them to do casual jobs.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)