- The government has posted an elite general service unit (GSU) squad for a 24-hour patrol of the volatile Sondu located at the border of Kisumu and Kericho counties.
- Interior CS Kithure Kindiki has made revelation even as he disclosed that five people were killed in the clashes triggered by a border dispute.
Image: MINA
The government has posted an elite general service unit squad for a 24-hour patrol of the volatile Sondu area at the border of Kisumu and Kericho counties.
Interior CS Kithure Kindiki made revelation even as he disclosed that five people were killed in recent clashes triggered by a border dispute.
“The conflict in Sondu area along the Kericho-Kisumu border was brought about by boundary dispute between Soin Sigowett and Nyakach subcounties in Kericho and Kisumu counties respectively.
In a statement to the Senate, Kindiki said the conflict was exacerbated by the dispute in revenue collection by the two county governments and stock theft.
“During the clashes, five lives were lost and five houses torched between October 2, 2023 and October 5, 2023,” he said.
The CS said the clashes have since been contained with the government putting in place stringent security measures to contain the situation and restore peace and normalcy.
He said the government has increased the deployment of police officers.
In addition, joint and regular security meetings between officers drawn from the two counties are currently ongoing.
In the operation, at least six people have been arrested and arraigned in connection with the attacks.
Kindiki said the government has enhanced sharing of intelligence among the security agencies.
The government has enhanced collaboration with both state and non-state actors which are still preaching peace.
“The measures that have been put in place are effective because normalcy has been restored in the area. The schools that had been closed were reopened, businesses resumed and Sondu open market is currently operational,” he said.
The CS was responding to questions by Kisumu Senator Tom Ojienda who had sought to know the status update on investigations into the inter communal clashes that occurred in Sondu.
“I would also like to ask the Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to tell this House the progress made in the disarmament of armed groups in Sondu town to ensure law and order is maintained,” Ojienda said.
Last year, the government transferred all security chiefs from both sides of the border to quell the clashes.
The CS had also noted that all other security officers found to have been complicit in the clashes would be moved, and perpetrators of the crimes arrested.
“This evening, the government has deployed a contingent of specialist security personnel to contain the escalation of violent crime in Sondu town and its environs,” he had said.
He added, “Lives have been lost, property destroyed, and civil order grossly undermined during the past two days.”
“The special deployment is to be supervised jointly by the Rift Valley and Nyanza regional security teams with firm instructions to ensure immediate resumption of normalcy and the arrest and prosecution of each perpetrator of the horrific crimes that have been committed against the people of Sondu town and its environs.”