CS Kindiki: 100 civilians, 16 police officers murdered by bandits in the last six months

Interior CS Kithure Kindiki said in a statement to the media on Monday that the government has declared the security situation in the Northern Rift Valley region a National Emergency.

At the same time, the CS declared Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Laikipia, and Samburu Counties to be 'disturbed and dangerous'.

According to the CS, over 100 civilians and 16 police officers have been brutally murdered in the last six months by marauding bandits and livestock rustlers.

"The murderous gangs have in recent days escalated their terror on innocent Kenyans and law enforcement agencies and in the process burnt down schools, police vehicles and other social amenities," the statement reads. 

 "During the attacks, hundreds of Kenyans have been displaced from their homes," 

In efforts to arrest the festering security situation, the government has also ordered all persons across the country, who hold illegal firearms and ammunition to surrender them willingly within the next three days. 

According to the Interior Ministry statement, those who fail to surrender the guns within the stipulated time will face the full brunt of the law. 

The latest comes just hours after President Ruto ordered a National Police Service and the Kenya Defence Forces within the troubled area in efforts to weed out bandits from the troubled North. 

The president's order comes a day after he ordered Interior Affairs CS Kithure Kindiki to relocate to the North Rift until all acts of banditry have been quelled. 

Ruto said during a thanksgiving service in Nakuru on Sunday that he had ordered Prof Kindiki out of the Harambee Avenue office, to the insecurity-stricken region where he is expected to restore security.

“CS Kindiki is not here today because he was in Baringo today. He was in Turkana yesterday. I have told him to leave his office in Nairobi to go and live in the North Rift until the banditry comes to an end,” said Ruto.

He said his government has extensively strategised on fighting banditry in the coming days, saying he will ensure no more life lost through bandit attacks.

“We have put in place all measures we can in our capacity as the government. We will deal with those few proud individuals and make sure no Kenyan loses their life to them,” said the Head of State.

Cattle rustlers and bandits have wreaked havoc in the country’s North Rift region, leading to the loss of hundreds of lives, displacement of residents, and loss of thousands of livestock.

The most affected counties are Baringo, Turkana and Elgeyo Marakwet.

Just two days ago, on Friday, six people, among them four police officers, lost their lives in a bandit attack on the Kitale - Lodwar highway at Kaakong area of Turkana County.

At the same time, seven officers, including a sub-county Police Commander, were hospitalised with gunshot wounds in the gunfight that lasted hours into the night.

The fierce gunfight was recorded by a passenger in a vehicle that was part of a convoy of vehicles escorted by police, and showed bandits numbering about 300 in the bush.

On Thursday, three people were killed and one critically injured in another attack at Kakong area in Turkana South, where bandits who posed as bystanders along the road ambushed a Lodwar-bound Public Service Vehicle, spraying it with bullets.