Bandits creating widows, orphans, Kerio residents tell Matiang'i

Kerio Valley residents have urged Interior CS Fred Matiang'i to help end banditry attacks in the area.

More than 30 people have been killed by bandits in the region in three months. Residents accuse the government of abandoning them to suffer in the hands of cattle rustlers.

“It’s like our work is to attend funerals in the Kerio Valley more than doing anything else concerning development. Our people live in fear of bandits and can’t engage in development,” Elgeyo Marakwet Deputy Governor Wisley Kiptoo said on Saturday.

He spoke during the burial of two more victims who were ambushed and shot dead by bandits while riding on a motorcycle three days ago.

They were Dennis Kibor, 19, who was to join Kenyatta University in September and Elijah Kipkorir, 20. They were sprayed with bullets by bandits on the Tot-Kapkobil

Road. Residents say the runaway insecurity in the region has led to the loss of many lives and theft of livestock.

Kiptoo said Matiang'i should stop ignoring appeals by residents to intervene and assist them.

“The CS and the government must hear us. We now have so many widows, orphans and death has become like a simple game. This is unacceptable,” Kiptoo said.

Governor Alex Tolgos, in his message delivered by Kiptoo, said the county had done everything possible to help residents through development projects, but violence has been a major problem.

 Many county projects have stalled due to attacks by cattle rustlers.

“Our people are being killed like rats. The two victims we are burying are young people. Banditry is claiming our future because the young generation is the most affected,” Tolgos said.

The county has written to Matiang'i . Tolgos said bandits have been crossing from Pokot to raid and kill innocent people on the Marakwet side.

“We urge our neighbours to work together to end banditry. It's primitive and immoral to kill innocent people just because you want animals,” Kiptoo said.

(Edited by R. Wamochie)