Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos has aksed President Uhuru Kenyatta and Opposition chief Raila Odinga to visit Kerio Valley to help stop banditry in the region.
Tolgos said residents' lives had been disrupted in many parts of the region and bandits rule as if the government does not exist.
“Am inviting you and President Kenyatta to tour Kerio Valley and extend the handshake to help us end the cattle rustling problem,” Tolgos said.
He spoke at Chebara in Elgeyo Marakwet where Raila and his allies had attended retirement celebrations for Cheranganyi MP Joshua Kuttuny’s mother-in-law.
Raila pledged that they would soon visit the region with Uhuru to help unite communities.
Earlier, Raila had held a private meeting with a section of leaders from the area.
Raila said the Building Bridges Initiative was aimed at building unity among Kenyans and ending tribalism.
“We must look at each other as Kenyans and as brothers and sisters but not identify each other by our tribes,” Raila said.
Kuttuny, a critic of DP Ruto, said farmers in the Rift Valley region were facing many challenges and urged Raila to talk with President Kenyatta about how to deal with the challenges in the agriculture sector.
“When you talk to Uhuru about the handshake, also talk about the banditry problem that is finishing our people in Kerio Valley,” Kuttuny said.
He said Raila and the President should extend the handshake to the grassroots by helping find peace between the Pokot, Marakwets and Tugen in Kerio Valley.
“I opposed you in 2013 when I was a jubilee spanner boy. I respect you today because you respect my friend Uhuru Kenyatta through the handshake. I said I have to reciprocate by taking you to my in-laws,” Kuttuny told Raila.
Tolgos said the county was keen on having the Arror and Kimwarer dam projects completed and they would not allow graft to ruin the implementation plan for the two projects.
“We are asking that once the investigations are through, the projects should be implemented as planned,” Tolgos.
Others present at the event were Siaya Senator James Orengo and Mbita MP Millie Odhiambo-Mabona.
(edited by O. Owino)
