• The leaders termed it wrong for security officers to execute suspects
• They gave the government one week to open an inquest into the killings
Madaraka Day has no meaning as extrajudicial killings continue to claim many innocent lives, West Pokot leaders have said.
Governor John Lonyangapuo, Kapenguria MP Samuel Moroto, his Sigor counterpart Peter Lochakapong and Woman Representative Lillian Tomitom spoke to residents during Madaraka Day celebrations in Makutano Stadium on Saturday.
They accused security agencies of using brute force, adding that they were to blame for the death of more than five residents in the past two months. This came after bodies of two men from Sigor were discovered in a forest in the neighbouring Elgeyo Marakwet county.
County commissioner Apolo Okelo said he was not aware the deceased were from the county. He said security agencies had launched investigations and urged the leaders to tone down their rhetoric.
“Security teams are investigating those behind the killings of the two and how they met their death. It’s against the law to terminate anybody's life,” he said.
Two men are also nursing gunshot wounds said to have been inflicted by police officers. They were admitted to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hosptial, Eldoret.
The politicians termed it wrong for security officers to execute suspects whose cases are being handled in court. They gave the government one week to open an inquest into the killings and give a report.
Lonyangapuo said the deceased were traders who had been arrested for buying stolen livestock. They were arraigned but were later found murdered in cold blood, he said. He said such killings should cease and the law allowed to take its own course.
“Why kill people and dump them in a forest, yet they had been arrested and apprehended in court?” he asked.
“Those suspected to have committed any offence should be arrested and prosecuted, and due process should be followed. We have a judicial system and we need to make use of it.”
Lochakapong gave the government seven days to identify the killers. “Most of the patients nursing gunshot wounds at the referral hospital are from West Pokot county,” he said.
Moroto said the government has enough machinery to identify those behind the killings so they are punished. He said that of all the operations conducted in the region, the one by the Jubilee administration is the worst as people are killed before investigations are carried out.
Tomitom said they have lost many people in two months and have nothing to celebrate.
(Edited by F'Orieny)