•Mbuno lamented that numerous declarations and pledges to end the wanton killings of people of Kitui by bandits who enter Kitui disguised as camel herders have not borne fruits.
Image: MUSEMBI NZENGU
Endau/ Malalalni, in Kitui, MCA Erastus Mbuno, on Tuesday urged the government to stop roadside declarations and instead act firmly to end the ruthless killing of his electorates by bandits.
Mbuno lamented that numerous declarations and pledges to end the wanton killings of people of Kitui by bandits who enter Kitui disguised as camel herders have not borne fruits.
“We have received promises from President William Ruto and the Interior CS, Kithure Kindiki, as well as our regional commissioner and the county commissioner that banditry will be dealt with once and for all but to no avail.
“One wonders whether, once the leaders make the promise to protect us from the armed and merciless camel herders, what happens in boardrooms is something different. How else can one link the numerous pledges with lack of action?” asked Mbuno.
The MCA spoke in the wake of the cold-blooded murder of two of his electorates in the Katumbi sub-location last Friday.
One of them Muli Mitanga was shot in the stomach in his kiosk at Kasang’u and slashed on the head, neck and chest.
His lifeless body was then dragged 2 kilometres and placed atop a camel carcass.
The other Kunu Masila was stabbed in the stomach before he was bludgeoned to death with a blunt object. His decomposing body was collected by the police on Sunday.
Mbuno said both incidences occurred within the Katumbi sub-location where out of fear, a large population fled their homes and farms and were living in the bush.
He said they need food, clothing and bedding support.
The MCA further said it was painful to lose innocent lives in the hands of the marauding armed camel herders as the government abdicates its constitutional responsibility.
Image: MUSEMBI NZENGU
He spoke a day after Kitui County Commissioner Erastus Mbui reacted to the weekend murders with a pledge to forcefully kick out from Kitui the camel herders.
“The government must match its words with action. The inaction to flash out the killer armed camel herders raises a lot of suspicions,” said the MCA.
Mbui on Jamhuri day reiterated the government’s commitment to flash out hostile camel herders in order to end bloodbaths in the peripheral areas of Kitui.
The county commissioner said that security officers had managed to flash out armed bandits who had invaded Mutha location in Kitui South killing two local farmers in the last month of October.
Mbui who is the chairman of the county security committee was presiding over Jamuhuri day celebrations held at Mulundi Primary school in Kitui central on Monday.
He however said it would be foolhardy for local farmers in the volatile and banditry-prone areas to engage in direct conflict with the heavily armed camel herders since they were ruthless.
The camel herders have occupied peripheral areas of Kitui after deserting their homes in search of pasture and have a number of times engaged in fatal conflicts with the locals.
The wards they have encroached on include Tseikuru, Nguni, Endau/ Malalani and Mutha.