COMMUNITY CONFLICT

MPs tour Kitui clash hotspots

People believed to be armed Somali herders shot dead a man at Kivuiyo on Sunday.

In Summary

• Members of the committee are on a fact-finding mission to get firsthand account of the situation.

• They were prompted by the killing of three people in clashes between Somali herders and Kambas.

Kitui county commissioner John Odengo, Security Committee chairman Paul Koinange and Kitui East MP Nimrod Mbai during a press briefing in Kitui on Friday.
FACT-FINDING: Kitui county commissioner John Odengo, Security Committee chairman Paul Koinange and Kitui East MP Nimrod Mbai during a press briefing in Kitui on Friday.
Image: MUSEMBI NZENGU

Members of Parliament on Friday visited Kitui following the killing of three people in clashes involving Somali camel herders and locals.

The Committee on Administration and National Security members led by chairman Paul Koinange were joined by Kitui East and Kitui South MPs Nimrod Mbai and Rachel Nyamai. 

Constituents of the two Kitui legislators were among those killed.

On Sunday people believed to be armed Somali herders shot dead a man at Kivuiyo village and killed another in Kalambani village both in Kitui county.

A day before, a teacher at Kalambani Secondary was speared in the rib while a boda boda rider was shot in the thigh.

Kitui county commissioner John Odengo told the media that a Somali herder was also killed as the skirmishes escalated, bringing the total numbers of those killed to three.

The clashes forced at least 400 families to flee their homes in fear. They are IDPs at Imuumba and Mutha police stations.

Koinange said that they were on a two-day fact-finding mission in Imuumbu, Inyali in Kitui East and Mutha in Kitui South.

“We want to speak to the public. We want to know what their security status is like and how people who are farmers are living there,” he said.

He said they wanted to have conversations with the people affected by the clashes.

(edited by O. Owino)

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