Last month, I watched as the widow of policeman James Lopeyok in Turkana narrated the pain she went through after she lost her husband in Kapedo in 2015. Consolata Ekeno's husband and the family's sole breadwinner died in the line of duty.
In 2014, bandits in Kapedo killed 21 police officers and three civilians, shocking the world. The National Police Service reported 47 police officer deaths and 77 injuries that year. The police have indeed paid the ultimate price to keep us safe. Regrettably, most of the policemen slain in the line of duty are young and promising.
Consolata and millions of others in these troubled counties have been affected by constant banditry attacks. These communities cannot safely collect firewood or tend to their fields or cattle. Bandits have shot dead people herding goats near their homes, tilling and tending their small farms in dry areas to feed their children.
Recently Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki declared Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Laikipia and Samburu counties as 'disturbed and dangerous'.
The CS reported that bandits and cattle rustlers had ruthlessly murdered more than 100 innocent citizens and 16 police officers in the past six months. This necessitated the government to deploy the Kenya Defence Forces to combat the situation in the troubled North Rift region.
For the last 10 years, the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group has been pushing to end cattle rustling and inter-community conflict. However, it is known that they are people out there with different opinions.
Eva Wangari's 2016 study 'Trends in police Militarisation, A case study of Kenya (2005-2015)' found that the military intervened in local conflicts at least three times in 2014. The army was sent to disarm the local populace in Mandera county in May.
They were dispatched to Marsabit county on September 21 to resolve the Gabra-Borana issue. In November, the army was out to Kapedo to end the violence that had resulted in the deaths of 19 police officers and to recover the weapons and ammunition that the bandits had stolen from the officers.
This has been the trend for decades in bandit-prone areas. The government should avoid repeating this mistake by doing the same thing in the same way.
Wangari further observes in her research that since military personnel are not trained to interact with civilians, they are oblivious to the constitutionally guaranteed preservation and protection of civil liberties. She adds that every time Kenya's military has intervened to restore order, civil rights and citizen freedom has been violated.
I understand the context of insecurity in the region and this nonsense must come to end. However, what we are saying is that President William Ruto, CS Kindiki and operation commanders should have their ears on the ground, involve local leaders and listen to the people.
The communities know who is causing tensions and rustling livestock in their neighbourhoods, but they are afraid to speak up because the government has historically ignored those silent voices even though they have the answers.
All government needed to do is listen carefully and bring those responsible to book. Collective punishment does not work but breeds new grievances that will grow the next seed that carries conflict and tensions. I believe that there is hope and that the pastoralists will continue to interact freely and fend for their livestock and families and share the scares resources.
Another solution is open the marginalised areas by building access roads and model schools, and digging boreholes and water dams. KDF has adequate equipment. They should not only take munitions but carry with them equipment that will open access roads, drill boreholes, and build dams and schools to initiate new social economic projects.
This double strategy will change the dynamics on the ground not only ending banditry but will leave behind bandit-free zone in areas that have been ignored for many years by successive governments since Independence. It will breathe a fresh air of motivation and enjoyment of development benefits.
CEO of Drylands Learning and Capacity Building Initiative and secretary to the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group Secretariat in Nairobi
