IG Koome in Turkana to lead crackdown on bandits

Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome is in Turkana County to personally lead a multi-agency operation that brings together officers drawn from the special forces of the National Police Service (NPS) and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) as ordered by President William Ruto.

IG Koome visited Kainuk area where just two days ago bandits lay an ambush on a police convoy killing three officers; he promised to put banditry to an end.

“We cannot allow the bandits and criminals to gain courage and start targeting our officers...likewise, its our duty to ensure members of the public go about their business without disturbance,” he said.

With hostility between communities one of the main causes of conflict, IG Koome called on local leaders to facilitate peaceful co-existence.

“People of this region have no option, they must be allowed to coexist...this habit of one community attacking the other will not be allowed to continue, we have the capacity and the will,” he stated.

The operation is expected to kick off on Thursday after expiry of a three-day amnesty for communities to surrender arms.

It will be steered by NPS and complemented by KDF, after Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale recently issued a gazette notice on the KDF’s involvement in the police-led operation.

Already, contingents of the different formations of uniformed forces have been deployed, and are strategising on how to launch the operation as sanctioned by the President.

Normalcy is slowly creeping back along the Kitale - Lodwar highway which remained deserted days after an ambush on a police convoy that led to the deaths of three officers.

The operation zone classified as a dangerous and disturbed area includes parts of Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Laikipia, Turkana and Samburu counties.

Interior CS Prof. Kithure Kindiki issued a clarification on Tuesday evening of the areas covered by the operation, saying Malaso, Baragoi and Wamba divisions of Samburu County are included, with Kirisia division excluded.

In Laikipia County, Sipili division is also included in the operation.

Authorities will maintain an increased security presence to ensure adherence to the dusk-to-dawn curfew aimed at weeding out bandits.