Nancy Kiplagat, 27, was breastfeeding her three-month-old baby, when bandits attacked Chebinying village in Baringo South subcounty in March 2014.
The mother recalls vividly the 3pm incident. She was seated outside her mud-walled, grass-thatched house, winding down the day, when 10 bandits wielding AK47s suddenly jumped into the compound.
Sensing danger, she clutched her baby and dashed into the house, but was too late. A bullet tore through her right hand and blasted into her right breast.
“I laid in hospital for almost a year, until my hand and mutilated breast got better, then I was discharged. But what disturbs me most is that the attack forced me to stop breastfeeding my three-month-old baby,” Kiplagat said.
The last thing I recall is one of them pointing a gun to shoot me. Later in the night, I regained consciousness in my sick bed at St Mary’s Hospital, Gilgil, in Nakuru county
She said now there is no single livestock left in their homestead, after the few remaining goats were swept away during the previous bandit attack.
“I thank God I am alive, but my husband and I are jobless, so we are now going through thick and thin raising our five kids,” she said, adding that her injured hand is still too weak to allow her do some menial jobs.
BLOODSHED AND DISPLACEMENT
The survivor learned later that the same day, the bandits had shot dead 45-year old neighbour Paul Chelagat, alias Museveni, and drove away his over 30 head of cattle.
His widow Margaret Targok was sobbing and shedding tears in bitterness when the Star met her in Chemorong’ion on April 1.
“I have not received any compensation or material assistance from any quarter, including the county or the national government, to raise my five kids,” Targok said, adding that all the family animals, their only source of livelihood, had been driven away by the bandits.
The attack rekindled a raid two years ago on Yatya village, Baringo North subcounty, when bandits shot dead a 24-year-old mother and her three-day-old newborn child.
Chemoe resident Richard Chepchomei recalls the chaos that ensued. “Upon hearing the gunshots, residents scrambled into hiding, leaving the mother and child at the mercy of the bandits,” he said.
More than 400 families were displaced, as worried residents fled with their children and livestock to the neighbouring Rondinin, Sibilo, Kapkomon and Koiboware villages.
The same year in the neighbouring Bartabwa village, senior chief Thomas Ruttok was shot dead at close range in the line of duty by bandits.
Ironically, the attack, which coincided with the visit to the area by Deputy President William Ruto, happened just 5km away from the venue.
“Up to date, the family is still suffering in poverty, although the government had promised to compensate them after the untimely loss of the sole bread winner,” resident David Lomul said.
FRESH ATTACKS
In February, the bandits struck again, killing a National Police Reservist and four primary school children in dawn, while they were herding livestock in Arabal, Baringo South.
Kiserian assistant chief Linet Shikamoi said the children killed were from Kiserian and Sokotei primary and Sokotei secondary schools.
“The deceased NPR was on routine security patrol, while the children were home for the mid-term break,” she said.
Shikamoi said over 100 families fled the area, fearing for their lives, and are currently herding their livestock at Kiserian, Elbunyaki, Lokumkum, Ng’ambo, Sintaan, Salabani and Long’eywan bushes.
“We hope normalcy resumes soon so our people return to their pasture-rich Arabal, currently inhabited by Pokot herders, grazing over 5,000 head of cattle,” she said, adding that the area belonged to the Tugen and Ilchamus pastoral communities.
Elsewhere, NPR officer Pius Chepkuto, 19, is recuperating after being shot in the knee by bandits during a routine security patrol in September last year.
He was rushed to Baringo Referral Hospital, where he was treated and discharged. The Star found him nursing his wound inside an abandoned dilapidated house in Sandai, near Marigat town, on April 1.
“I was left here alone as my family members ran for their lives. Others are currently in Mochongoi, Eldama-Ravine and Nakuru,” Chepkuto said, adding that he now relies on well-wishers, who visit him daily and donate cooked food.
He hopes to get well soon so he can walk and fend for himself. He still needs to raise Sh100,000 to settle the hospital bill and have the fractured leg cleaned and undressed.
His father Chepkuto Chebon, who stays in Marigat, said he had nothing left to sell after all his 27 head of cattle were stolen by bandits, “so I only do menial jobs to raise my seven children”.
Chebon says his son Barnaba Chepkuto, 18, was killed before the bandits drove away livestock in Arabal in December 2014.
At Chemorongion village, six orphaned children aged four to 12 years are staying with a guardian, Rachel Chebon, after their father, Joseph Kibowen, alias Silale, 37, was shot dead by bandits in 2016.
“Their mother had died earlier after a short illness, and there was nothing left behind after the bandits killed their father and cleared away the remaining 36 head of cattle,” Chebon said.
LIVING IN FEAR
More than 200 people were killed in about 20 villages in Baringo North and Baringo South subcounties between 2005 and 2019.
The residents have also lost over 10,000 livestock driven away by the bandits since then towards the Tiaty subcounty, not yet recovered to date.
Over 30,000 locals, including the elderly, expectant women and children in the two subcounties, are now subjected to abject poverty after losing all their livestock and beloved ones.
“They are also living in fear, not sure of their tomorrow, as the bandits might strike again anytime,” Arabal resident Kimunyan Meja said.
Over 800 Ilchamus IDPs camped at Mukutani are also in dire need of humanitarian aid. The group was resettled back in October last year after spending one and half years at Eldume camp, after running away from bandits attacks that left 11 death on March 14, 2017.
“Our people have nothing to eat as the situation worsens every day,” Ilchamus resident Leshaan Olesupen says, urging the government to intervene immediately.
Baringo South MP Charles Kamuren is appealing to the government and well-wishers to move in urgently with food and none-food items to help sustain the lives of the residents.
“This is no longer normal cattle rustling. Instead, it has manifested itself to be a ploy to disperse people and expand boundaries,” he said.
He further called on the government to allocate funds to increase production in regional irrigations schemes. “This will bring a lasting solution to the perennial food insecurity being experienced by the attack victims,” he said.
The residents have been holding peace meetings with the government and NGOs. “We have even presented a list of our plights to the Kenya Human Rights Commission, but everything has gone silent,” Baringo North peace crusader Isaiah Biwott said.
In 2014, Baringo North MP William Cheptumo tabled a bill in the National Assembly, urging the government to compensate the bandit attack victims, but nothing has been done to date.
