A police officer was shot dead during a fierce exchange of gunfire
between security officers and suspected cattle rustlers in Trans Mara South
Subcounty, Narok county.
The incident happened on Friday evening, June 19, police said.
The officer, identified as Police Constable Joseph Owino, was fatally wounded during an operation to recover cattle stolen from the Kuria community in neighbouring Migori County.
According to police officers from Angata Barrikoi and the Anti-Stock Theft Unit (ASTU) camp at Angata were on patrol at about 4 pm when they received information that cattle had been stolen from Gwitembe area in Migori county.
The security team pursued the suspected rustlers and caught up with them at Keturo area, where they encountered about 40 armed youths.
Police said the officers were ambushed upon arrival, triggering an
exchange of gunfire that lasted for about an hour.
During the confrontation, Owino sustained fatal injuries, officials said.
His body was later moved to Kilgoris Sub-County Hospital mortuary pending a post-mortem examination.
Four fragmentation grenades (FRGs) were also deployed during the operation.
The incident follows a cattle raid reported earlier on Friday in Gwitembe, Migori County, where armed rustlers stole 20 head of cattle before fleeing toward Trans Mara South.
Police said security operations have been intensified in the area as officers continue pursuing the attackers and efforts to recover the stolen livestock continue. Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Trans Mara South are investigating the incident.
A herder sustained a minor injury to his left leg while fleeing from the attackers. He was rushed to Ntimaru Sub-County Hospital, where he was treated and discharged in stable condition.
Police said efforts to trace the suspects, recover the stolen cattle and arrest those behind the raid are ongoing.
The area is among those under an operation to tame rustling menace. The operation targets Baringo, West Pokot, Turkana, Samburu, Marsabit, Meru and Isiolo counties.
Besides retributive reaction, strategic investment and sustainable development have also taken a prominent place among the government’s planned crime control interventions for Kenya’s Northern frontier and the Kerio Valley belt.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the long-term vision is to empower the communities to actively take part in the war against animal rustling and undertake legitimate nation-building activities.
He said plans to distribute subsidized agricultural inputs and extension services to area residents in a bid to revive farming activities as a source of livelihood.
Murkomen ordered fresh vetting for all National
Police Reservists (NPRs) as part of efforts to bolster the operations.
