Bungoma leaders want Interior Minister Fred Matiang'i to address the rampant insecurity in Mt Elgon so nobody else dies.
They noted on Wednesday that matters were getting out of hand so soberness is required to prevent a return to 2007 when many deaths and displacements took place.
The violence that year resulted from the disputed presidential election - at least 1,300 people died across Kenya while more than 600,000 were internally displaced.
Closer home, crimes including robberies have rocked Mt Elgon’s wards of Cheptais, Kaptama, Chebyuk, Elgon and Kapkatenyi.
MPs Didymus Barasa (Kimilili) and Mwambu Mabonga (Bumula) have asked the Cabinet Secretary to quickly address the matter as some residents have been forced to
migrate to Uganda.
Mabonga warned that they will not work with the ruling Jubilee Party if the government cannot secure Mt Elgon.
They noted they voted in large numbers last August for President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto.
Jubilee got the MP seat through Fred Kapondi as well as all the six MCA posts in Mt Elgon.
The MP said: "Our people are now migrating to Uganda because of insecurity in the region. We should not recycle leaders who keep on doing things that do not benefit our people but only bring chaos.
"It's shocking that the insecurity is in an area with a military base and a GSU camp.
People have been beheaded. It has happened in Mt Elgon so we in Kimilili, who are neighbours, are prone to attacks. We want Matiangi to act."
Bumula MP Mwambu Mabonga, Kimilili's Didymus Barasa and Kimilili MCA David Barasa in Bungoma town on February 21, 2018. /BRIAN OJAMAA
The legislator, who is a member of the House Security committee, further asked Matiang'i to sack police officers who smuggle guns from neighbouring Uganda and work with criminals.
"If these officers are tired let them go home. We have young and energetic officers who can protect our people."
The two MPs spoke at a rally at Katiba Grounds in Kimilili after returning from Bungoma Law Courts where a petition against Barasa's elections victory was struck out.
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"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH" BUT
WHO IS TO BLAME?
Speaking separately, Bungoma Governor Wycliffe Wangamati asked Matiang'i to hold talks with Ugandan authorities on how to curb the insecurity.
Wangamati also said the CS should urgently take any measures that will bring the killings to an end before it is too late.
“It hurts to hear every day of brutal killings in the region yet the national government is just watching. Enough is enough. Something must be done," he said.
"The government should use
whatever force to ensure the culprits who are either hiding in Mt Elgon Forest or in Uganda are apprehended."
The Governor further said that the DP should go with a lasting solution when he visits the region on Saturday.
Fingers have been pointed as at least 100 people and several animals have been killed in the
last three months.
Residents have accused police of laxity while police and leaders have traded allegations of protecting criminals.
The crimes often take place on weekends and the perpetrators seem unshaken by the presence by camps of the Kenya Defence Forces and the General Service Unit.
Several women have been raped and businessmen killed in bizarre incidents, the latest being that of a man whose head was cut off last Friday. It was not found at the crime scene.
Police have complained of difficulties in responding to distress calls due to poor communication networks and tough terrain.
They have denied reports of the resurrection of the Sabaot Land Defence Force whose leader
Wycliffe Matakwei was killed in 2007. Some of the group's former members who were jailed 10 years ago so there have been claims that they commit the crimes and are shielded by senior politicians.
Police have also denied these allegations.
Western region Police Commander Moses Ombati, who visited crime scenes on Tuesday, asked residents to freely share information that will help police wipe out crime.
“These people have a unique habit of never collaborating with police to give crucial information. This has hampered our operations,” he said.
He also cited poor road and communication networks.
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CRIMES CONTINUE
On Sunday night, six people were killed by armed gangsters in Sirai area of Chepyuk settlement scheme while a family was attacked on Monday night.
Police believe the second crime was committed by the same gang while residents have demanded a fresh military operation to weed it out.
Jacob Teben, whose family was attacked on Monday, was admitted at Cheptais Hospital.
He told The Star on Wednesday that the only solution is military action similar to the 2022-2007 exercise dubbed Operation Okoa Maisha.
“I missed death by a whisker as the gang pounced on my home at midnight. My cries did not help as I struggled with them. They shot me and left me for dead."
Teben noted the attacks are similar to those of SLDF militia who wreaked havoc between 2002 and 2007, leaving about 1,200 people dead and further 10,000 displaced.
“We are calling on the national
government to call for a joint police and military operation rather than wait for people to die like they did last time."
Teben said the police manning the region - regular police, GSU and their administration counter parts
- were inefficient since the attacks take place metres from their camps.
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