Water and Sanitation Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome's convoy was on Friday caught in a shootout in Marsabit county.
The shootout, which ensued near the Marsabit Forest, was between bandits and Kenya Wildlife Service officers.
Wahome had toured the area to inspect a water supply project, the Marsabit Water Supply Treatment Plant at Bakuli Dam.
She had just concluded inspecting the construction of the dam when her convoy ran into the crossfire.
The CS was evacuated to safety.
"I am safe and now on my last visit in Othaya," she tweeted.
The rustlers are said to have killed a herder near Marsabit Catholic Shrine in Saku subcounty before stealing an unknown number of cattle and escaping into the Marsabit Forest.
The escape route led them to the KWS officers, prompting the shootout.
The attack came shortly after the County Deputy Governor Solomon Gubo urged President William Ruto to end banditry.
"Madam Waziri, kindly convey our message to President Ruto and Interior CS Kithure Kindiki to act immediately and combat cattle rustling which has become a thorn in our flesh in this county," he said.
Speaking at the dam site, the DG further urged Ruto to expedite the return of the National Police Reservist guns.
The guns were confiscated in 2019 after the NPRs were accused of lending them to criminal gangs.
The move resulted in civilians getting their own guns in a bid to defend themselves in the bandit-prone area.
This resulted to the confiscation of the NPR guns leading to an unprecedented proliferation of illegal guns in the hands of civilians who felt unsafe.
"The result of that was heightened inter-ethnic conflicts and locals are now pleading for the return of the NPR guns," Marsabit County peace and cohesion director Jeremy Ledaany said in November 2022.
