Kerio disarmament: Will the results be different this time round?

For the umpteenth time, the government is planning to mop up illegal arms in the troubled Kerio Valley region. The move comes after recent bandit attacks left dozens dead or injured and thousands of others displaced.

In Elgeyo-Marakwet alone, more than 70 people have been killed in six months and five over the past one week alone, as raiders continued their attacks despite heavy police presence in what has come to be termed the ‘Valley of death’.

Two people are nursing wounds at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret after they were shot in the hands and legs in Chesongoch by raiders suspected to be from a neighbouring county.

The planned operation has rekindled hope among residents, although some are skeptical that it might not yield much, after many such exercises failed to end the problem once and for all.

Read: Matiang'i demands names of Kerio Valley bandits, warns of operation

Instead, security agencies have often been accused of torturing innocent people as criminals continued terrorising the remote parts of the region.         

Forcible disarmament

On Monday, at a meeting bringing together top security organs from West Pokot and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties and chaired by Rift Valley Regional Coordinator Maalim Mohammed, residents were asked to surrender their guns within two weeks.

“After 14 days, the government will conduct a forcible disarmament to mop up all arms in the wrong hands, which have been used to kill and maim. Before then, anyone with illegal guns are urged to surrender them. We can no longer allow a few criminal elements to reign,” said Mr Mohammed at Tot in Marakwet East sub-county. Mr Mohammed took over from Mr George Natembeya, who has expressed interest in the Trans Nzoia governorship.

The Rift Valley boss said this time round they would go for cattle traders as well as guns and ammunition suppliers, whom he said have been abetting the menace.

Read: Disarmament a death trap for chiefs in banditry-prone Tiaty

“At the moment, we are profiling criminals and updating the statistics of those who are in one way or another taking part in the insecurity matrix in the region. This is how we want to solve the issue of insecurity once and for all,” he said.

Community engagement

He said they would also enlist the help of community elders.

“An aggressive community engagement is currently underway because we want all stakeholders to be part and parcel of the process of finding a solution to the problem. It will reach a point where we shall escalate the disarmament to the entire region experiencing insecurity challenges,” he said.

He said the government would not relent in the fight against insecurity in the region.

“Anybody who will be found in illegal possession of a firearm will be eliminated before they eliminate others. It is prudent to be neutralised before you maim others. There will be no reverse gear on this because we have deployed millions worth of resources to curb insecurity instead of conducting meaningful development,” he said.

The administrator likened the government to an elephant, which cannot hurt anyone if it is not provoked or disturbed, adding that the repercussions are deadly if one tries to attack the animal.

“What happened in Mount Elgon with regard to the brutal Sabaot Land Defence Forces (SLDF) insurgency was akin to an elephant avenging an attack. The criminals roaming and maiming people in Kerio Valley should know their time is up and surrender before we go for them,” he warned.

However, Elgeyo-Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen said while they support government efforts to curb insecurity in the region, the planned disarmament should not be used as an excuse to torture innocent people.

“In the past such operations were characterised by extra-judicial killings and abductions and this time around we are asking them to be careful not to hurt innocent people but go for criminals hiding in the remote parts of Kerio Valley,” said Mr Murkomen.

The lawmaker said the security apparatus had emboldened the criminals by failing to apprehend and charge those who had been identified as suspects.

“We have had senior security managers fly into Kerio Valley, where they issue empty promises and threats; only for gunshots to rent the air as soon as they depart. Had the government from the outset arrested the criminals, we would not be talking about an operation,” he said.

“Since the day former Interior Cabinet Secretary the late Joseph Nkaissery said a ring leader identified as Samuel should be captured dead or alive, the criminals have become bold because Samuel was never captured. The security agencies are barking loudly without biting. They should bite before barking in Kerio Valley,” said Mr Murkomen.

Restore order

Elgeyo-Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos welcomed any measures by the government to restore order in the region.

“We need decisive action to end insecurity and pave the way for development. I join calls for the reinstatement of police reservists but their welfare should be well catered for. A fraction of what is given to other security officers should be set aside for the police reservists,” said Mr Tolgos.

Mr Bethuel Kaino, a resident, said forcible disarmament might not end banditry and cattle rustling in the region as it had led to the killing of civilian and military officers in the hilly and rocky terrain that makes it difficult for security officers to corner the bandits.

“The influx of illegal arms in the region can partly be attributed to proximity to Uganda and Southern Sudan, where a gun is equivalent to two or three cows. Cattle rustlers in most cases retreat to their hiding places, only to re-emerge after disarmament operations, making it difficult for security personnel to arrest them and confiscate the guns,” said Mr Kaino, a journalist from Kerio Valley who has covered security operations in the past.

He said registration of firearms in the wrong hands would help reduce crime in Kerio Valley.

“Registration of firearms in Uganda, where those holding them are paid salaries like police officers has reduced acts of lawlessness because it is easier for the government to identify the guns. The same thing should be done in Kerio Valley,” said Mr Kaino.

He said for calm to be restored in the North Rift region, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sudan should organise a well-coordinated police-cum-civil society offensive to disarm illegal arms holders within their respective borders.

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