By Dennis Mutua
Police with help of Kenya Wildlife Service rangers last night recovered some of the over 500 livestock that was stolen yesterday evening in Kamacabi area of Tharaka North Sub-County.
At least 50 gun-armed bandits of Somali origin believed to come from the neighbouring Garissa County stormed local herders as they were watering their animals in Ura River and took away the livestock at gun-point and vanished into the neighbouring Meru National Park.
The criminals also raided homes and drove away livestock and also stole money, mobile phones and foodstuff.
Meru National Park Senior Warden Muraya Githinji and Tharaka North Sub County Police Commander Benson Makumbi have told the media that the livestock was recovered several kilometres deep inside the conservancy.
Mr Muraya said after receiving the signal from police, he immediately mobilized rangers who conducted bot aerial and land monitoring.
“We have been able to recover some livestock and we are still pursuing the bandits inside the national park,” said Mr Githinji.
Back in the raided village tension is still high and some of the locals are fleeing to other areas with their animals for fear of more attacks.
Residents narrated to the Press Point that at around 2 pm, the over 50 criminals forced the local herders who were watering their animals to lie down threatening to shoot anyone who dares to wake up before they vanished into the thick national park.
According to Annjusta Mwithi who lost three donkeys to the criminals, she had just arrived at the river to fetch some water at the wells that have been sunk following drought in the region when the men dressed in clothes looking similar to police jungle uniform struck.
She said they also robbed her phone and Sh6000 at gunpoint.
“I had just arrived at the river when the Somali cattle rustlers came from the surrounding bushes holding guns and ordered us to surrender everything that we had including livestock, phones and money,” said Ms Mwithi.
Mutuura M’Mwathi, another resident lost 72 goats, three cows and two donkeys to the raiders leaving him empty-handed.
The locals complained that despite making calls to various political leaders and administrators, police took several hours before arriving at the village.
They said the two police officers attached to a nearby Kamacabi police post said they could not follow the bandits alone inside the national park and without the instruction of their area commander.
Few officers from Kamutuandu, Kamacabi and Makutano arrived later and together with some locals armed with arrows pursed the criminals.
Affected residents blamed the government for failure to deploy enough security officers in the banditry prone area despite issuing insecurity alert a few weeks ago.
The Press Point learnt that even a nearby Kiamiramba Police Station has only three police officers despite having enough facilities to accommodate several officers.
The attack has since paralyzed activities around the area with pupils at Kamacabi Primary School fleeing for their safety.
Services have also been stopped at Kamacabi dispensary with health officers also leaving the area to safer places for fear of attacks.
Speaking over the issue while at Ndurumoni primary school, Tharaka MP Gitonga Murugara asked security teams to do everything possible to recover all the livestock.
Murugara said the security of Kathangacini, Kiamiramba, Gaceuni and the surrounding areas should be a priority of the security agencies in the county.
He however faulted locals who could be conspiring with the Somali criminals to steal their neighbours and urged police to conduct a thorough investigation and charge anyone found culpable.
This raid comes barely a month after GSU officers flushed out Somali herders from Kiamiramba area of Tharaka terming them as security threats in the area.
Notably, Tharaka residents who had leased out grazing fields to Somalis complained and blamed the government for interfering with the newly found ‘good relationship’ between the residents of the two communities.
