Laikipia: Defense Cabinet Secretary Soipan Tuya has assured residents in insecurity-prone areas that the military is now ready to provide all the necessary support in the campaign to flush out bandits from their hideouts. Speaking at Il Polei market, Laikipia County during a women empowerment programme, Ms. Tuya disclosed that the government has allocated Sh1 billion to be utilized in opening up road networks for easier accessibility by multiagency security personnel in tracking down the criminals involved in banditry and cattle rustling activities.
According to Kenya News Agency, Tuya emphasized that the government has allocated Sh1 billion in the first phase to open up security roads, ensuring that bandits will not have any hideouts as operation teams will be able to access all areas. She added that the opening up of roads will cover all insecurity hotspots, including Mukogodo Forest, aiming to restore peace and foster development in the region.
Tuya was responding to concerns raised by Laikipia North MP Sarah Korere, who highlighted that it has been over a month since a Kenya Defense Force (KDF) set up a temporary camp in Doldol Town, yet security officers have not moved into action. The President has issued firm instructions that issues of insecurity and banditry will be addressed during the ongoing operations.
She assured that KDF, through the Maliza Uhalifu initiative, was ready to support the National Police Service during security operations in Laikipia County. Despite the presence of KDF officers, Korere noted that peace was yet to be realized, with bandits still carrying out frequent attacks, which she described as a mockery of the government’s pledge to end banditry and cattle rustling activities in northern Kenya and parts of the Rift Valley region.
Parts of Laikipia County, notably those neighboring Mukogodo Forest, were recently gazetted as ‘disturbed areas’ by Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen alongside other regions in Isiolo and Meru counties. Following the gazette notice, a multiagency security force supported by military officers and applying aerial surveillance is set to launch a major operation to disarm the criminals and recover stolen livestock.
Dozens of people have been killed by criminals in recent years during raids to steal livestock, with leaders from affected areas accusing the government of providing lip service regarding restoring security. Leaders who accompanied the Defense CS, including her Tourism and Wildlife counterpart Rebecca Miano and four Laikipia MPs, rallied voters from the Mt Kenya region to support President William Ruto’s second-term bid.