Raila's allies ask Ruto to visit conflict-hit Sondu

A section of leaders from the Nyanza region have challenged President William Ruto to spare time during his four-day Nyanza tour and visit Sondu as uneasy calm started resuming in the conflict-hit town along the Kisumu-Kericho border.

The leaders termed President Ruto’s orders yesterday to have perpetrators of the Sondu clashes arrested and prosecuted as “too little too late,” when people have already lost their lives, some displaced from their homes and property destroyed.

National Assembly Majority Leader Opiyo Wandayi said the government ought to have averted the clashes and saved the lives instead of talking tough after the negative impact of the feud.

“Any serious government should not have allowed the Sondu mayhem to get to where it is. It's akin to shedding crocodile tears,” Mr Wandayi said about President Ruto’s orders.

Kisumu Woman Rep Ruth Odinga told the President to visit Sondu and publicly declare where the boundary lies, “as it is something on government records.”

Read: Sondu clashes - High school teacher fighting for life in ICU after attack

“It was wrong for him to visit Kabonyo-Kanyagwal in Nyando, barely 40 kilometres from Sondu and fail to go there and see the level of destruction caused,”

“His pronouncement only emanated from public demand that he speaks to it,” Ms Odinga said.

Ms Odinga, who is also Azimio la Umoja One Kenya leader Raila Odinga’s younger sister also clashed with the government over planned Sunday service at the Kisumu State Lodge, instead proposing the service to be held in Sondu to dedicate the day for prayers to the victims of the clashes and their families.

“Prayers should be held in Sondu not State House,” she said, challenging the president to ensure justice for the affected families.

Kisumu West MP Rozah Buyu said President Ruto ought to have made his arrest orders from the scene in Sondu to show his “seriousness” on the matter.

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“After all, Sondu is not too far from Nyando. Asking CS (Kithure) Kindiki to act with seriousness amounts to nothing. He is aware that this is an expansionist effort and that is what he should address with his people,” the MP said.

Nyakach MP Aduma Owuor, however, noted that; “the President has made a pronouncement and we can only hope for the best.”

He advised the government to take responsibility and ensure that affected families are compensated.

“As a sign of goodwill from the government, it should compensate those who lost property and even sort the medical bills of the victims still admitted to hospitals,” the MP said.

The clashes this week left seven people dead and a trail of destruction of property following torching of houses and a county revenue office in Sondu.

Speaking during President Ruto’s visit to Siaya on Friday, Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot blamed the police in Sondu for the recent unrest.

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"I heard that the police were transferred, this is not enough. I call upon you (President Ruto) to ensure that before you leave Nyanza, make orders and all the perpetrators are made to face the law," the senator said.

He went on, "We share so much between Nyanza and Rift Valley. We are all Nilotes sharing so many things. We shall not allow anyone to mess up with our unity."

On Thursday, the government announced the transfer of all local security heads on both sides of the Kisumu-Kericho border following the escalation of clashes at the border town.

The move came barely hours before President Ruto started his four-day Nyanza tour, with his first stop in Kisumu Friday.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki announced the transfer of the police chiefs alongside other security and public officers as well as the deployment of a contingent of specialist security personnel to contain the escalation of violent crime in Sondu and its environs.

Additional reporting by Kassin Adinasi