- Kindiki said that the security operation will be supervised jointly by the Rift Valley and Nyanza regional security teams.
- The teams, he said, have been given firm instructions to ensure immediate resumption of normalcy in the area.
Image: MINA
The government has deployed specialised security teams to quell the tribal clashes in Sondu that have left at least seven dead.
The highly trained police units are expected to contain the escalating violence in Sondu town along the Kericho-Kisumu border.
The move comes after the government also announced the transfer of security officers from either side of the region as part of measures to restore order.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said that the security operation will be supervised jointly by the Rift Valley and Nyanza regional security teams.
The teams, he said, have been given firm instructions to ensure immediate resumption of normalcy in the area.
"The government has deployed a contingent of specialist security personnel to contain the escalation of violent crime in Sondu Town and its environs,'" Kindiki said in a statement on Thursday evening.
Kindiki warned that any individual connected with a spate of killings in the area will be held accountable.
The Interior CS also confirmed that the government had resolved to transfer all local security heads in the area for their failure to contain the situation.
“In the meantime, it has been decided to transfer all local security heads on both sides of the border and other security and public officers whose want of effectiveness, impartiality and/or competence is deemed to have resulted in the success of the criminals,” he said.
Kindiki added that additional measures to address the situation may be announced on Friday after a need assessment and review of the efficacy of the current measures.
Earlier, Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot called for the transfer of all security officers in Sondu and demanded that "heads must roll".
"Our security enforcement agencies owe the country an explanation on how this situation escalated under their watch," he claimed.
Opposition MPs from Nyanza had asked President William Ruto to consider suspending the planned tour of the region until the killings in Sondu are addressed.
The lawmakers led by National Assembly Minority Leader Opiyo Wandayi condemned the ethnic clashes between the Luo and Kalenjin communities at Sondu that allegedly claimed three lives on Wednesday.
Ruto is today returning to Nyanza for a four-day development tour of the four Luo Nyanza counties to launch key infrastructural development projects.