Mwingi residents flee homes as bandits kill and maim
Hundreds of residents of Ngomeni, Mandongoi and Nguni areas in Mwingi North in Kitui County flee their homes fearing bandit attacks.
What you need to know:
- According to Pastor Jeremiah Mwanzia of Full Gospel Church at Mandongoi, locals were feeling helplessly as they were being attacked by heavily armed bandits, with local police doing nothing to repulse the attackers.
- The cleric wondered why the camel herders were claiming to own land in Kitui County yet they are from Garissa County.
Hundreds of residents from Ngomeni and Mandongoi areas in Mwingi North, Kitui County, have fled their homes fearing fresh attacks by armed bandits.
The residents fled on Saturday and Sunday, carrying their belongings to safer areas, as bandits protecting camel herders from the north continued to wreak havoc.
A Grade Seven pupil was shot and badly wounded on his left hand after the attackers ambushed him as he grazed cattle at Mandongoi, while several homes were torched on Saturday in the latest wave of attacks.
Five people from both sides— pastoralist herders and the locals who are mainly crop cultivators— have lost lives in the fresh clashes over pasture and water since last week.
According to Pastor Jeremiah Mwanzia of Full Gospel Church at Mandongoi, locals were feeling helplessly as they were being attacked by heavily armed bandits, with local police doing nothing to repulse the attackers.
"People are being attacked and killed in their homes and police, led by Kyuso Sub-County Police Commander Edwin Otieno, only visit the scene, collect the bodies and leave without pursuing the attackers," he said.
The cleric wondered why the camel herders were claiming to own land in Kitui County yet they are from Garissa County.
"The actions by police show unimaginable laxity in the face of killings by people forcefully entering and grazing camels in people's farms. We appeal to President William Ruto to intervene and put an end to these hostilities," the cleric said.
Mrs Ngeleke Muinde is among peasant farmers who have been left homeless and destitute after her home was torched.
Also reduced to ashes was her food store containing 100 bags of assorted maize and peas.
"We have been sleeping in the bush since the bandits attacked us last week but sadly they invaded my home and torched all the houses. We were left with only the blankets we had as everything else was completely lost in the arson attack" Mrs Muinde.
The farmer lamented that her elder brother was killed by bandits in a similar attack last year in the same Mandongoi area and that all promises by the government did not bring peace.
Officers from the National Cohesion and Integration Commission on Sunday arrested the Nguni ward Member of County Assembly Jeremiah Mutua for questioning amid increasing tension.
A police report said the MCA was arrested over alleged incitement and ethnic contempt contrary to section 62(1) of NCIC Act, after he addressed public meetings demanding immediate eviction of the camel herders by the security officers.
Mr Mutua was roughed up while attending church service at Miyuni Apostolic Church, prompting protests from the faithful who accused the police of disrupting their mass.
He was driven to the Embu regional police headquarters and put in custody awaiting arraignment on Monday.
Immediately after his arrest, his supporters blocked Thika - Garissa highway in Nguni and Ukasi but the police managed to clear the road and restore calm.
Efforts by the Nation to reach senior county security officers, including County Commissioner Kipchumba Rutto and County Police Commander Leah Kithei, were not successful as they could not be reached by telephone.
