The Kitui government will fund the construction of eight police stations in wards bordering Tana River to boost security and reduce terrorism and banditry.
Governor Julius Malombe lamented that criminals associated with the al Shabaab have previously used Kitui to access other regions to cause mayhem.
“Kenya is not secure if there is no security in Kitui. You all remember a guy who was convicted recently from across the border who went through the Kitui-Tana River border and ended up in Nairobi with a grenade,” Governor Malombe said.
He said had the man not been arrested, he would have caused harm of great proportion.
The governor also cited three al Shabaab associated convicts who broke out of Kamiti prison and used Kitui as their escape route.
Malombe spoke last Friday when he witnessed the signing of an MoU between his government and the National Police Service at his boardroom.
Kitui county police commander Leah Kithei and chief officer in the Office of the Governor Saleh Kitonga inked the deal.
The MoU will facilitate the sponsorship of the construction of eight police stations in volatile Endau/Malalani, Mutha, Kanziku, Nuu, Ngomeni,Nguni,Voo/ Kyamatu, Kanziku and Tseikuru wards which have for years also borne the brunt of banditry.
Malombe said if the Kitui-Tana River common border is not adequately secured, it will be open for use by people from as far as Somalia to cause insecurity not only in Kitui but in Kenya.
He said it was justifiable to seal the porous common border to keep such dangerous elements at bay, adding that this is why they are setting up the eight police stations along the border.
