Security chiefs brief Uhuru on progress of Laikipia operation

Top security chiefs met and briefed President Uhuru Kenyatta on the progress so far made in Laikipia following a weeklong multi-agency operation.

The team under National Security Council (NSC) met the president Monday for a briefing on the progress of the security in the area and informed him the area was now calm and safe for locals.

The meeting came a week after another NSC one on September 6 ordered a raft of measures to be taken to ensure the safety of locals and especially ranch owners.

They told the President most of the armed herders had been driven from the ranches and that those whose houses had been torched had had them reconstructed or would be reconstructed.

Schools reopened for the second day Tuesday after calm returned to the area.

Amid intensified security patrols, pupils and students streamed back to their schools to continue with learning.

Police in the area said no incident was reported overnight and that more patrolling officers have been deployed to address any fears.

This followed the visit to the area by security chiefs led by interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i, Chief of Defence Forces Gen Robert Kibochi, Mutyambai and his APS deputy Noor Gabow to camp in the area for three days to oversee an operation that is ongoing there.

The president had ordered the operation to be carried out within a week.

The operation started with the declaration of a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Laikipia Nature Conservancy after the country’s top security organ- NSC meeting at State House, Nairobi.

Matiang’i said that Laikipia Nature Conservancy and its environs had been immediately declared as a disturbed area and therefore a security operation zone.

Matiang'i gazetted the creation of a new administrative sub county in the Ol Moran area and named it Kirima to tackle insecurity in the area.

This creation is expected to bring government and security agencies closer to the backwaters of Sipili and Ng'arua.

Further, he said a training base for elite police units will be established in the area to enhance police presence and serve as a buffer zone between Laikipia residents and invaders from neighbouring counties.

There will be a deployment of surveyors to Laikipia to expedite the titling process and review/recommend action on lapsed leases or those about to lapse.

“We will engage relevant ministries and agencies on the ideal management of the Laikipia Conservancy to mitigate its attraction as a conflict hotspot,” he said.

The security chiefs landed in the area as multi-agency teams intensified operations to flush out gunmen on private ranches and who are blamed on at least ten deaths including three police officers and displacement of thousands who are now in churches and schools.

The attackers have been torching houses and other amenities including schools.

More elite police officers landed in the area to boost ongoing operations to flush out armed men terrorizing locals.

They were seen manning some of the affected schools as pupils and students reported to class.

Mutyambai announced the security designated area remains a no go zone for political meetings without police clearance.

Edited by D Tarus