Sondu clashes: More security deployed to troubled border town

More security personnel were sent to Sondu to tame renewed ethnic clashes at the Kisumu-Kericho border.

This follows an incident in, which seven people died while several others were injured in fresh attacks at the Sondu market.

Criminals armed with bows and arrows raided the East Kadiang’a location in Upper Nyakach division on Wednesday morning and unleashed terror on the residents before fleeing the scene.

A house was torched in the latest attack which comes barely two weeks after another attack was reported in the area that left one person dead and several injured.

Security commanders from both Kisumu and Kericho counties held a crisis meeting on Wednesday and Thursday to plan how to tame the trend.

The police commanders said part of the strategies was to deploy more personnel in the affected area.

The officers were also ordered not to take sides as claimed by some locals, a senior official said.

The fresh attacks came on the day 20 MPs from the region told President William Ruto to intervene and stop the killings.

Kericho Senator and Majority leader in the Senate Aaron Cheruiyot called on Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki to convene a meeting to solve the menace.

“I urge CS Kindiki to urgently convene a leaders meeting drawn from Kericho and Kisumu counties to chart a way out on this Sondu issue. It's a terrible unfortunate situation. If we meet our people at Sondu, we can certainly figure a way to restore peace and stability,” he said.

Cheruiyot also called for the transfer of security officials who have overstayed in both Kericho and Kisumu regions.

Tension remained high on the border market following the fresh attacks even as patrols were enhanced. Business was also disrupted as most traders kept away fearing for their lives.

Security was beefed up with anti-riot police patrolling around Sondu market and its environs to stop further flare-ups.

Officials said two weeks ago, a 29-year-old man, who was a member of a music band that played at a pub in the market, was killed after a group of youths armed with crude weapons raided the entertainment joint.

Kisumu Governor Anyang’ Nyong’o called for permanent intervention from the national government to resolve the border conflicts and ensure calm is restored.

While condemning the spate of attacks, he said security authorities must move with speed to stop further skirmishes on the border.

Kisumu County Security team led by County Commissioner Hussein Alason Hussein visited the border to quell the tensions that were building up and assured the locals that security had been beefed up.

Hussein, who later held a crisis meeting with security teams from both counties, assured that security has been beefed up with police patrols intensified on the border to calm the situation.