Uhuru asked to help end Marsabit clashes

Marsabit Governor Ukur Yatani has appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to personally intervene to restore security in the county.

The governor on Monday said insecurity in the county had reached unmanageable levels.

In an interview with the Nation, Mr Yatani said Interior Secretary Joseph Ole Lenku seems not to understand the issues surrounding the conflict in Marsabit County.

“We are calling upon the national government, more so President Kenyatta to personally intervene as nobody else can manage the situation at this level,” said Mr Yatani.

He said two people were killed in Butiye area on Monday following a standoff between the Gabra and Borana.

Tension is still high in Sololo and Moyale districts as the road from Marsabit to Moyale town remains cut off at Turbi trading centre.

Mr Yatani claimed Mr Lenku has not dealt with the real cause of the conflict.

He said the national government should deploy more security officers in the affected areas to curb the clashes.

He re-emphasized his earlier view that the conflict in Moyale was politically instigated.

“There is a desire to make the county ungovernable with hope that Marsabit County government will be dissolved and put under the national government so that the people who exercise their legitimate power are disadvantaged,” said Mr Yatani.

He said issues of position in the county government should not be an excuse for anybody to fight.

“One can either go to court or call for mediation, but since one section did not get 50 per cent of the county government’s share, why start fighting? That’s where we have the challenge,” said the governor.

Insecurity in the area has also affected an ongoing road project following an attack on vehicles belonging to a Chinese construction company on Monday.