NAIROBI, Kenya
A bandit has seized a primary school block in Baringo County, in the Rift Valley province in Kenya and turned it into his home in a brazen show of impunity.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki |
In a shocking revelation by
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki on Wednesday, senators heard the
Standard Eight classroom is now the man’s bedroom while the Standard Seven one
belongs to his first wife.
The man’s second wife sleeps
in the Standard Six classroom while his first-born child has taken up Standard
Five.
Appearing before the Senate’s
National Cohesion committee, Mr Kindiki said the bandits have terrorised
Baringo South and Baringo North leading to the closure of 21 schools.
Although the government has
managed to reopen 14 learning institutions, the school, which the CS did not
name, is among seven that remain closed.
The remaining seven, the CS
said, were completely destroyed but Sh100 million has been secured to rebuild
them and reopen them next term.
The CS at the same time vowed that the ongoing security operation in the banditry-prone north will be sustained until the menace is eradicated.
Prof Kindiki told the senators
that part of the elaborate security plans by the government will see the region
populated with enough security personnel, who will not leave the six affected
counties until all bandits are cleared and the region is safe.
Prof Kindiki told the
committee led by Marsabit Senator Mohamed Chute that the government has set
aside Sh20 billion to acquire sophisticated weapons as part of a police
modernisation programme.
Two weeks ago, the CS declared
six counties in the North Rift as ‘disturbed and dangerous’ following a wave of
banditry attacks that left several people, including security officers, dead.
The counties are Turkana, West
Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Laikipia and Samburu counties where President
William Ruto ordered the deployment of Kenya Defence Forces and other security
officers.
“We must make it painful for
the criminals and lawbreakers who have made our life unbearable. I want to
assure you we will win this battle. We will crush the bandits,” he added.
He said the government will
continue with a disarmament exercise targeting all illegal guns in the north
and other parts of the country. The CS said the three-day grace period to
surrender guns will not be extended, adding that 43 guns, 136 rounds of
ammunition, two fragmented rifle grenades and three rocket-propelled grenades
have been voluntarily surrendered since the operation began.
Pledging to become “the
minister who will lead the team to finish this banditry menace” once and for
all, Prof Kindiki told the senators that securing the north is integral to the
country’s economic development due to its abundant resources.
Prof Kindiki said the criminal
activities that are persisting in the region create a fertile breeding ground
for terrorism. He said hundreds of security personnel have lost their lives in
banditry attacks.
Turkana Senator James Lomenen
raised the issue of porous borders.
“How do the bandits get their
ammunition? Do they get them from the police, army, Uganda or do they have
their own factories?” Mr Lomenen asked. Prof Kindiki said Kenyan officials have
met with their Ugandan counterparts to seal all escape routes used by the
bandits.
Last week, East Africa Community
(EAC) CS Rebecca Miano and Interior PS Raymond Omollo met with Ugandan
officials in Moroto where they discussed security concerns.
Nominated Senator Joyce Korir
pointed an accusing finger at political leaders who, she said, know the
financiers of the criminals as they are people living within their communities.
Mr Kindiki vowed to spare no
politician aiding and abetting banditry.
He said President Ruto has
said he is willing to lose political support to end the banditry menace. “If
you fall afoul of the law, it will not matter which side of the political
divide you belong to”
Nominated Senator Raphael
Chimera criticised the government for its knee-jerk reactions to the insecurity
situation.
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