Kerio Valley residents want porous border points sealed
A view of Chesuman area on the Arror-Tot road in Marakwet County. Residents of Kerio Valley now want the government to immediately seal the borders of Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo and West Pokot counties.
Residents of Kerio Valley now want the government to immediately seal the borders of Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo and West Pokot counties, days after it mounted a security operation to flush out bandits who have been wreaking havoc in the region and to mop up illegal guns.
Locals say the operation, which includes a dusk-to-dawn curfew in parts of the three banditry prone counties, will only yield fruit if security officers are deployed along the River Kerio border line.
Mr Lawrance Mutwol, a resident, said police officers are enforcing the 30-day curfew by concentrating their patrols along the Biretwo-Tot-Marich pass road instead of creating a buffer zone along the porous border.
“We need the police to patrol the River Kerio and the Turkwel power line. This will ensure the bandits do not cross over to any of the three counties. The police are replicating what they did in the past curfew and operation by patrolling [along] the roads instead of the porous borderlines,” he said.
“Kerio Valley is characterised by thick thickets that make it hard for police to penetrate. Security officers should therefore close the boundary areas if they have to contain the bandits from crossing into any of the counties in question,” he said.
Empower residents
Residents also want the government to also initiate income generating activities to improve their living standards so that they do not have to rely on livestock alone for their survival.
“Cattle rustling and banditry will be contained if residents are empowered economically through projects like farming and business initiatives. Kerio Valley is an area with rich minerals which can transform the lives of the people if fully exploited,” said Mr Mutwol.
Mr Richard Ruto, another local, called on leaders in the affected areas to demonstrate their sincerity and honesty in the fight against insecurity.
“Acts of lawlessness along the Kerio Valley would have been a thing of the past had elected leaders been honest and sincere in fighting insecurity in their respective areas,” said Mr Ruto.
Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Maalim Mohamed told the Nation that the security operation is progressing well and that they will be giving weekly updates.
“The officers are under firm instructions and set targets to be achieved,” he said.
The operation was launched by Interior Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i last Wednesday in Tot.
“This time round we want to ensure the menace is wiped out once and for all. We are determined the security operation will yield the desired results,” Mr Mohamed said.
