•He said the curfew and operations in Marsabit county will enhance a disarmament exercise.
•"Under this Order, there shall be no public gatherings, processions or movement."
Image: FILE
The dusk to dawn security curfew in Marsabit has been extended by 30 more days.
This follows the lapse of the earlier 30 day curfew period that was enforced on May 2.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangí on May 31 extended the curfew for 30 more days to enable the ongoing operations to meet their targets.
“There shall be no public gatherings, procession or movement either alone or as a group during the period of the curfew except as has been permitted in writing by the Inspector General of the National Police Service,” he said in a special gazette notice.
The notice did not include Kom Durte area of Isiolo County as it was in the earlier one.
A General Service Unit commander who steered a security operation in the troubled Laikipia area in 2021 is in charge of the operations.
Commissioner of police Bernard Kituku Mbatha is now the commander of Operation Rejesha Amani Marsabit aimed at restoring peace and security in the area and neighbouring Isiolo County.
The Marsabit operation has progressed according to the plans and police say there have been nil cases of attacks as it was in the past months.
On Tuesday, the team conducted successful patrols at Bubisa, Kambi Nyoka, Demo, Shurr, and Jaldesa Locations and received four Carbine rifles, one G3 rifle, an AK-47 rifle, one magazine and 13 rounds of assorted ammunitions from Assistant Chiefs of Demo, Bubisa and Shurr.
In Jaldesa Location, the area officials surrendered one Carbine rifle, one AK-47 rifle with one magazine and 20 rounds of ammunition.
Officials in Sagante location handed over one HK 21 machine gun with 78 belted rounds of ammunition, two AK47 rifles with one magazine each and nine rounds.
This increases to at least 120 weapons and 1,300 rounds of ammunition among other crude weapons recovered that were illegally held by members of the public.
The recoveries were made in various Sub-Counties in Marsabit during the month-long exercise.
The officers in the operation said they had also burst a racket of drug traffickers and recovered a large haul of marijuana drugs.
Police and administrative officers in the operation agreed to sustain sensitization forums aimed at urging residents to voluntarily surrender arms with the emphasis that the operation is not meant to target any community but to fish out criminals in the entire county.
More than 50 suspects are facing various charges in connection with the recoveries made so far and killings that have happened in the area.
The operation by security teams is drawn from the GSU, the Rapid Deployment Unit, the Quick Response Unit, and the Anti Stock Theft Unit, among others.
Matiangi said the operation will run in tandem with a disarmament exercise targeting illegal guns and ammunition.
He said the National Security Council had decided to launch “Operation Rejesha Amani Marsabit” following incessant inter-ethnic attacks that have defied peace initiatives and the lapse of the initial 30-day window sought by county leaders to secure reconciliation.
The animosity between the Borana and Gabra communities has progressively boiled over, and Matiang’i has expressed concerns over political leaders who have frustrated previous attempts to pacify the area.
According to the CS, rival groups have been armed and transformed into competitive political militias meting out violence on innocent civilians in what has become one of the costliest security challenge in the country.