• Counties seeking money from the Interior ministry and Treasury are Laikipia, Baringo, Isiolo and Samburu.
• Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi are meant to improve infrastructure, promote education, construct dams, among other measures.
The Amaya Triangle Initiative has urged the national government to release Sh6.6 billion grant to address cattle rustling, banditry and general lawlessness.
The counties seeking the money from the Interior ministry and the National Treasury are Laikipia, Baringo, Isiolo and Samburu, which formed the initiative three years ago.
Laikipia Governor Ndiritu Muriithi said the funds are meant to improve infrastructure, promote education, construct dams, among other measures.
On Wednesday, Muriithi yesterday said the three-year programme, called the Amaya Soft Security Programme, deals with the root causes of cattle rustling and banditry.
These include lack of education and jobs and shortage of water and pasture, leading to conflicts.
"We have dealt with the hard programme earlier, which was building police posts, carrying out security operations and deploying police officers in these areas," Muriithi said.
"This has not ended the attacks and it is now time we deal with the root causes," the governor said.
Once the counties get the funds, he said, they will first deal with illiteracy among residents that contributes to the raids.
"This is one of the major causes of cattle raids in these four counties. We will build schools and help educate our people so they can desist from practicing retrogressive cultures," the governor said.
He said that the initiative targets 10,000 youths and adults who will join technical training institutes.
The governor, however, took issue with the government for setting out strict rules for establishing learning institutions.
"For example, one needs five acres with a verifiable title deed, two learning blocks and an ablution block, minutes from the members of the community and a public health certificate.
"For sure, where will one get a title deed in Laikipia and the rest of these counties, yet the land here is not demarcated?" he posed.
He called on the government to revise some of the rules to make it easier for those in leadership to establish learning institutions.
Muriithi said that the Amaya Triangle has already received Sh600 million from European Union and was already implementing some of these programs, in addition to Sh400 million contributed by each of the counties for these activities.
"We are restocking our livestock as well as providing fodder. We are encouraging our communities to shift from nomadism to feedlots," he said.
He noted that they were in the process of building dams to encourage the community to do farming.
"This will also address the issue of nomadism as the communities search for water for their livestock," he added.