More than 700 people on the Marakwet-West Pokot border have fled their homes after bandits shot dead three more people in the Kerio Valley on Tuesday.
The dead include a GSU officer. The latest killing brings to seven the number of people killed in two weeks and to 30 in three months.
The villagers fled towards the Marakwet highlands together with their animals.
Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos and top security officers have urged families to remain.
The three were killed after rustlers clashed with herders on Tuesday evening. The GSU officer was part of a team fighting the bandits.
Marakwet East police boss Joseph Kitili said the GSU officer attached to Tot station has a nearby home. He was shot while trying to prevent the bandits from stealing his animals, he said.
“We have deployed officers along the border,” he said.
Tolgos said the situation is critical and urged Interior CS Fred Matiang'i to intervene to restore security and peace.
“We wonder what we have to do to get Matiang'i to act on this situation. Residents are suffering and there's no development," Tolgos said. Displaced families need food aid, he said.
Four schools, including Kapyego primary and secondary, have been shut because of violence.
Development has stalled in Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot and Turkana.
So far efforts have failed to end the resurgence of banditry.
