• Residents want National Police Reservists rearmed immediately to help repulse the aggressors.
• They say the bandits are more dangerous than the coronavirus.
Image: JOSEPH KANGOGO
Victims of Banditry attacks in Baringo have warned that they might be finished off if the government does not intervene.
This comes after armed cattle rustlers from Tiaty subcounty raided Ng’aratuko village in Baringo North on Monday. They shot and injured police reservist Enock Rong'uno, 28.
"I was helping repulse the bandits who were fully armed with Ak-47 guns with my simple improvised sticks-made bow and arrows before I was shot,” Rong'uno said.
Rong’uno was admitted to the county referral hospital in Kabarnet town. A bullet was lodged in his right thigh. Doctors say he is stable.
The victims in Baringo North and South are blaming the resurgence on untimely withdrawal and disarmament of 3,000 National Police Reservists from the county late last year.
"The government should carry all the blame for these frequent attacks for the deliberate withdrawal of the NPR officers who used to help repulse the aggressors," Bartawa MCA Reuben Chepsongol said.
He said the state should respond quickly before the deadly bandits kill more people. He was backed by his Saimo-Soi counterpart Richard Cheserem.
The attackers also fled with 230 goats during the 3am incident, but the police and residents recovered all of them.
The attack happened barely three days after another 30-year-old former police reservist Kenneth Argut was shot dead by suspected bandits at Shakanin in Bartabwa division on Friday. The body was taken to Kabarnet Hospital mortuary.
Retaliatory attacks have intensified after agitated Tugen youths raided Ng’inyang in Tiaty and injured a Pokot herder before fleeing with some 60 goats early this month.
Prior to that, Pokot bandits ambushed and killed boda boda rider Chepkok Napol in Kamachakwa along Loruk-Yatya road on April 2. Another group of bandits attacked Ng’aratuko village, shot and injured a Standard 6 boy before stealing a number of animals.
On February 21, the bandits ambushed and killed three Tugen police reservists on Mairo hills along Mochongoi-Chemorongion-Marigat road, Baringo South.
MCA Chepsongol urged the government to disarm the bandits or consider rearming the reservists. "There is no need of watching bandits kill a harmless population," he said.
They blamed Rift Valley regional coordinator George Natembeya for approving the disarmament of the NPR officers last year saying it has given the bandits freedom to attack unarmed residents at will.
"Natembeya should also tell us if he has a hidden agenda with the lives of the people of Baringo because he has kept silent while bandits kill people freely and steal their livestock,” Chepsongol said.
They also lashed out at county commissioner Henry Wafula and his Baringo North deputy Popwocha Obwocha for keeping mum.
Tension is high in the volatile parts of Kagir, Yatya, Chemoe, Barketiew and Kosile. More than 800 residents have fled their homes since Friday last week. They are now camping in the bush at Rormoch, Karimo, Rondinin, Chapin, Barbarchuch, Sibilo, Chebarsiat, Akoroyan and Chepkowel.
On Tuesday, Chemoe resident Richard Chepchomei said the bandits had warned that they would follow them to the camps, “to shoot and steal our animals".
"We are worried if the coronavirus and the bandits shall keep threatening our lives,” he said.
Last week, Wafula praised Pokots for surrendering 12 illegal firearms in the peaceful disarmament exercise last month.
"Tugen and Ilchamus communities have produced none," he said, warning them to stop arming themselves against the Pokots.
He said although Pokots are known to harbour armed bandits, "police officers have a way of frustrating them... You can see today they've moved from cattle theft to highway robbery".
The residents’ frequent pleas for the government to heighten security patrols along the porous borders have landed on deaf ears.
"After the Tugen youth laid retaliatory attack on Pokots in Ng'inyang, Tiaty, on April 4, injuring one and driving away some 60 goats, we asked them to vacate Yatya, Kagir, Kosile and Chemoe villages to save their lives from the wrath of the dangerously armed Pokots," Baringo North police commander Fredrick Odinga said.
Baringo South's Arabal resident Joseph Kipkorir said 10 people have died and more than 2,000 families displaced, hence the need to rearm the reservists.
"Although we support the work done by the police officers, we still suggest the revival of the NPR because they know the terrains better and can pursue the bandits to their hideouts," Kipkorir said.