Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen during a past meeting with senior security officers in Kerio Valley/FILEThe elders said the security measures put in place by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen will lead to lasting peace along the Kerio Valley.
The elders who spoke after a meeting in River Kerio, were led by Ayubu Longorok (Baringo), Arimait Lodepe (Turkana), Jacob Merinyang (West Pokot), John Lenyasunya (Samburu) and Tuliaki Yoponyang (Elgeyo Marakwet).
"We want to commend the good work being done by our security officers under the leadership of CS Murkomen in identifying the few criminals hindering peace efforts along the Kerio Valley. We are in full support of what is going on in the region," said Merinyang.
The elders said they have resolved to collaborate with security agencies in ensuring lasting peace has been achieved in the area.
The elders also cautioned politicians against politicising efforts to achieve lasting peace for their own selfish interests.
"There is need for leaders from MPs to MCAs to be honest and sincere in fighting insecurity challenges along the Kerio Valley. Some of them are interfering with the process to achieve their selfish goals," said Lenyasunya.
Longorok said the ongoing peace approach to intercommunity peace building in areas hit by cattle rustling activities will only succeed if leaders speak with convincing honesty.
"We have engaged in cattle rustling for the last 30 years and there is nothing we have gained. Instead we have lost many lives, several livestock stolen and property destroyed. This is why we have said enough is enough," said Lodepe.
The elders noted that since Murkomen took over as Interior CS six months ago, there has been drastic decrease of insecurity along the Kerio Valley as opposed to claims by some leaders that there are increased cases of insecurity since he took over.
"The truth of the matter is that cases of banditry and cattle rustling in the region had reduced by at least 50 percent this year compared to last year because of collective efforts of leaders, security agencies and cooperation by members of the public in ending the menace," said Lodepe.
The elders promised to help the government recover all illegal firearms in the region saying they were to blame for cases of banditry and cattle rustling.
"We are happy that Murkomen upon appointment asked security officers carrying operation to flush out bandits to be guided by intelligence reports where focus was on the culprits so as not to harm innocent people. This is the best way to deal with this issue," said Lodepe.
The elders argued that during the previous operations, the rustlers’ retreated briefly to normal life so that security personnel could think that normalcy has been restored and therefore return back to their camps outside the operation zones.
"But this time round, security officers are closely monitoring the movements of the criminal elements with a view to apprehending them," said Merinyang.
They argued that what is making the operation to yield fruits is the fact that the government is ensuring its sustainability so that all the criminal elements are weeded out by closing all the border points with the neighboring countries.
The elders said wananchi who are the most affected by these incidents are now taking the lead in identify the few criminals terrorizing them besides volunteering information to the security officers that can lead to their arrests.
