Kenya’s Interior and National Administration Cabinet Secretary, Kipchumba Murkomen, said the government remains committed to ending banditry. He named Kerio Valley, Pokot, Turkana, Samburu, Elgeyo Marakwet, Isiolo and Laikipia among areas that have faced the threat for years.
Murkomen said authorities had recovered about 3,000 illegal firearms and 8,000 rounds of ammunition in banditry-prone areas over the past one and a half years. He said efforts to collect illegal weapons would continue and urged those still holding them to surrender them. He also directed security agencies to minimise harm to civilians and livestock during operations.
The minister spoke at Nandi Hills Stadium during a fundraiser for a bus and an office block for the Nandi Hills/Tinderet branch of the Kenya National Union of Teachers. He said residents had returned to farming as peace improved. Security agents, he added, were working around the clock to recover stolen livestock and illegal firearms and dismantle criminal networks.
Murkomen said operations were being intensified in Isiolo and Samburu. He instructed National Government Administrative Officers to step up efforts against drug abuse and illicit alcohol, which he said harms young people. He called on chiefs, assistant chiefs and Nyumba Kumi community groups to work with police and report producers and sellers of illicit brews.
Those at the event included MPs Julius Melly of Tinderet and Benard Kitur of Nandi Hills, Nandi County Woman Representative Cynthia Muge, county assembly members, KNUT National Executive Secretary Collins Oyuu and Nandi County Commissioner Wilberforce Kilonzo. The figures and assessment are Murkomen’s statements.