BY WINSTONE MUSISI
The government has come up with a raft of security measures in the banditry prone Kerio Valley in the wake renewed fresh deadly attacks that has so far claimed the lives of four people among them an agricultural officer four days ago.
While touring the affected region on Monday, Rift Valley Regional Coordinator George Natembeya asked hundreds of the displaced families including learners to return to their homes saying there was no cause for fear over the safety of their lives and property now that the government had restored security.
He said that all public primary and secondary schools in the volatile region will be guarded by two police officers to check high number of school dropouts among learners due to frequent banditry attacks.
Rapid deployment unit
The Regional Commissioner further said that officers from the rapid deployment unit will pitch camp at the borders of the three counties where heavily armed bandits have turned into their escape routes zones.
“All government primary and secondary schools have been allocated two armed police officers each as one way of ensuring security for our learners and tutors in the event of attack by raiders,” said Natembeya.
The government, Natembeya assured, will ensure that no disruption of learning activities will be witnessed again due to flare up of banditry attacks in the affected region.
Natembeya was speaking at Tot, Kapkobil and Sambalat areas which have been hit by incidents of banditry and cattle rustling raids along the volatile borders of Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo and West Pokot counties.
Killing of a woman
He pointed out that security officers have been deployed to Tiaty area in Baringo County to pursue perpetrators of the vice with a view to bring them to book to account for their action.
“We have received crucial information on the perpetrators of the recent deadly cattle raids in Marakwet East which led to the brutal killing of a woman and her two children and also an agricultural officer four days ago and it is just a matter of time before we catch up with them,’ assured Natembeya.
The slain woman, her two children aged 4 and 7 years respectively were killed while harvesting millet in their farm in Kerio valley by a group of armed bandits who escaped with more than 200 livestock.