Humanitarian crisis unfolding in Baringo

She coughs roughly and painfully before grabbing her walking stick, and then staggers slowly into her scary, rickety shrubs-thatched makeshift structure in Rondinin, Baringo North subcounty, on Sunday.

“My grandchildren and I have resorted to living here in the bush with wild animals. We risk being bitten by poisonous snakes, but we have no option,” Temo said.

The sickly, elderly granny is among hundreds of residents, including schoolchildren, who fled their homes in the volatile parts of Yatya, Ng’aratuko and Kagir due to ongoing fears of deadly bandit attacks since March.

At least 100 people have been shot dead, dozens injured and thousands displaced by armed bandits in the area since December last year.

The latest attack happened on Sunday, where armed bandits attacked Chemoe in Baringo North, stealing 43 head of cattle and driving towards the neighbouring Tiaty subcounty.

While seated on a bed improvised from logs, Temo pulled and displayed a torn blanket and a piece of old cowhide and some dirty goatskins they use as bedding.

“Apart from our livestock being stolen by bandits, we lost a number of them during drought seasons and then we slaughtered them and utilised the hides and skins as our mattresses,” she said.

Hardly a month passes without the sound of gunshots taking innocent people’s lives, animals stolen and finally forcing us to flee

BANDITRY ORDEAL

The granny then narrated her ordeal, saying she hasn’t had a rest in her life. Instead, they have always been on the run due to a series of bandit attacks. The situation worsened in the last five years.

“Hardly a month passes without the sound of gunshots taking innocent people’s lives, animals stolen and finally forcing us to flee,” Temo said.

She is yet to come to terms with the loss of her son, who was ambushed and killed in cold blood while burning charcoal in the bush to feed his family.

“Upon his death, I was left with six orphans to take care of, yet personally, I am left with only five goats, the rest were swept away by bandits,” she said.

Currently, the ageing and sickly woman cannot afford to cultivate her farm or do casual labour to raise her grandchildren. “So it has forced us to rely on handouts from well-wishers, like beggars,” she said. 

Temo said back in the day at her home in Yatya 30km away, she used to live happily in a good house, rear livestock and even cultivate her farms before the bandits struck and displaced them.

“We don’t know which mistake we have done to them to deserve all this, yet we women also gave birth to sons like them. We also don’t know why the government keeps watching us being massacred like rats,” she said.

The granny hopes something is done soon to calm down the guns and normalise things so they can go back to their homes.

Rondinin community health volunteer Loyce Cherutich said the banditry victims are really suffering, especially the elderly and the young children, who are looking hungry, sickly and malnourished.

“As residents here, we welcomed and accommodated them for the last five months since March, but it has never been easy because they would borrow us everything, including salt and sugar,” Cherutich said.

Similar displacement is currently rocking volatile parts of Baringo North, Baringo South and the neighbouring Elgeyo Marakwet county.

Among the worst-affected remote villages are Arabal, Chepkesin, Chesoi, Chesongoch, Chemoe, Kagir, Kapturo, Kinyach, Kiserian, Mochongoi, Mukutani, Ng’aratuko, Rormoch, Sibilo, Sinoni, Tot and Yatya. 

WHAT THEY NEED

The victims are appealing for an urgent supply of relief food, warm clothes and tents to shelter in, especially during the rainy season.

Joan Jemutai, founder of New Dawn of Hope NGO, is struggling to donate some foodstuffs, fruits and medication to the victims.

“I feel so emotional seeing innocent malnourished children, some even cannot wake up on the ground due to hunger-related illnesses,” Jemutai said.

The crusader said some locals and children were infected with malaria but they can’t meet the cost of getting attended to in the far-flung hospitals.

She decided to take it upon herself to pitch a simple medial camp. More partners are needed to chip in to support the victims, she said.

Another victim, Bernadine Chesaro, said they could not afford to take sick children to the health facility 40km away. They had to persevere or resort to the local traditional herbalists.

Bartabwa MCA Reuben Chepsongol condemned the endless banditry attacks. He appealed to Tiaty MP William Kamket to join his colleagues in leading campaigns against banditry.

The banditry victims are now hoping the President-elect, who is the outgoing Deputy President William Ruto, will actualise his promise to put in resources to tackle the menace of banditry.

Earlier on during his political campaigns, Ruto promised if elected, he would deploy enough security officers to fight and end banditry across the country, especially along the volatile Kerio Valley.

For the last three months, the government been conducting security operations to flush out armed bandits, while imposing a dawn-to-dusk curfew. It was then lifted ahead of the August 9 polls.

“We are waiting upon our bosses above to give us direction if we will resume and carry on with the operation immediately after the election or not,” Baringo county commissioner Abdirisak Jaldesa said. 

PLIGHT OF STUDENTS

Hundreds of schoolchildren have been destabilised, with many dropping out of school due to displacement by persistent banditry.

Children at Chesekem Internally Displaced Camp (IDP) near Sibilo are forced to trek up to 8km to Kosile Primary School.

“I take up to four hours daily, walking and coming back from school on an empty stomach,” a child said.

Local leaders and residents are now urging the Ministry of Education, through CS George Magoha, to consider providing foodstuff in the insecurity-hit schools to stabilise the children.

Last week but one, bandits surrounded and rained gunshots near an IEBC polling station in Chemoe, Baringo North, disrupting voting for close to two hours.

“Thank God our officers got out safe after being rescued by security officers on duty,” county IEBC retuning officer John Mwangi said.

Baringo North Chemoe resident Richard Chepchomei criticised the outgoing Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, saying it used to deploy security officers to man national activities like elections and national examinations.

“Afterwards, we the locals are left to die alone in the hands of merciless bandits,” he said.

He called upon the incoming President to consider disarming the bandits, compensating and resettling the banditry victims, whom he said have suffered for the last 17 years, since 2005.