Rift Valley regional commissioner George Natembeya has said that there are many illegal guns in the hands of residents in bandit-prone areas.
Speaking during a peace meeting in Eldoret, Natembeya said the government will arrest and prosecute the perpetrators of cattle rustling .
"We have tried to build more schools for pupils to go and learn and when they get empowered they will reduce incidents of cattle rustling," he said.
He said they will be conducting peace meetings quarterly with all stakeholders, including politicians, to end the vice that has resulted in underdevelopment in the affected regions.
Natembeya further said that they did not remove the National Police Reservists from the affected areas but were looking into other ways on how to redeploy them.
He said they had a challenge of payment which further hampered the entire process since the reservists have families to take care of.
The meeting was graced by Baringo Senator Stanley Tuitoek who said they have urged communities residing in the affected areas to start rearing breed cattle that cannot be targeted by the raiders.
Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos said the issue of boundaries between the warring communities had been going on for decades.
He said that is something that needed to be addressed once and for all to enable people leave in peace.
