By Betty Luke
A section of MCAs from banditry-prone areas of Samburu and Isiolo counties have appealed to the government to temporarily suspend an expected operation and give the public a grace period to surrender criminals and stolen livestock to the State.
Led by Ngaremara MCA Peter Losu, Burat MCA Nicholas Lorot, Oldonyiro MCA David Lemantile, Samburu’s Waso MCA Kelvin Lemantaan and Nominated MCA Rebecca Lolosoi, the leaders expressed fears that many innocent people would be subjected to untold suffering at the expense of the criminals should the operation go on.
“The government should be very careful and raid homes of the suspects that we shall surrender instead of subjecting the entire community to the torture that comes with security operations,” said Mr Losu who urged the Turkana and Samburu communities to volunteer information that aid in arrest of criminals.
The MCAs came together following efforts by Mr Lemantaan who reached out to his Isiolo counterparts on the eve of New Year in quest to end the past cold relationship between leaders from the two counties which has been an impediment in the insecurity fight especially within the border area.
The sentiments come a week after Interior CS Kithure Kindiki revealed that the government would extend the Operation Maliza Uhalifu to the two counties, Meru and Marsabit geared towards flushing out armed bandits in Upper Eastern region.
“We cannot continue tolerating the monkey business of criminals aiming fire at security officers in Kenyan uniform killing them right, left and center,” Prof Kindiki said during the meeting within Kalama area.
The MCAs, during a peace meeting that brought together elders, youth leaders and residents from both counties, maintained that they will not allow ‘a few people’ to continue tarnishing the name of the community and that they would expose them to authorities for action.
Peace crusader Samuel Lokoro said should those exposed fail to surrender stolen livestock, the government would recover it by force and punish them.
Over 20 names of suspected criminals were shared during the meeting with local elders promising to raid their homes and recover the animals they could have stolen.
The MCAs from the warring Turkana and Samburu communities entered into a unity pact, an initiative or Mr Lemantaan, to collectively champion interests of their people and work with security agencies in ending cattle rustling and banditry attacks which have and continue to impoverish local communities.
“We are now starting a new chapter of working together as leaders and this is what we urge the two communities to embrace,” Mr Losu said.
Mr Lemantaan said they will work closely with police, local elders and national government administrators in sharing names of suspected bandits, their hideouts and whereabouts of stolen livestock for prompt action.
“We will not hesitate to expose anyone linked to the crime because we are keen on attracting development to our region which has been marginalised for a long time,” he said.
Like his colleagues, he expressed fears innocent residents could suffer if an operation is carried out, appealing for individual targeting of the criminals.
Mr Lemantile and Mr Lorot also supported the unity pact saying it was meant to end the protracted dispute between the communities.
“Our unity should not be misconstrued as a threat to other communities because the pact will also extend to other communities,” the Isiolo Deputy Speaker said.
Ms Lolosoi appealed to the two pastoral communities to cease from senseless fighting and theft saying the vices were to blame for under-development in the region.
“It is unfortunate that despite experiencing the same challenges as pastoralists we keep fighting each other for nothing. Time has come to say no to cattle rustling and embrace change,” she noted.
