Pastoralists given 7 days to vacate KWS land over insecurity

Highway robbers suspected to be hiding in the Kraal near KWS station in Kainuk are targeting residents and motorists on the Kainuk-Lokichar road
The Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Maalim Mohammed has given pastoralists seven days to vacate the KWS land in the Turkana South sub-county they’ve been occupying following a spate of highway robberies suspected to be staged in the area.
Mohamed said highway robbers were hiding in the Kraal near KWS station in Kainuk and targeting residents and motorists on the Kainuk-Lokichar road that connects Kenya and South Sudan, including a Sunday incident where they attacked an assistant chief.
“During the dry season, they came looking for pasture but then started killing wildlife, attacking passengers along the highway, attacked police officers and now shot an assistant chief. As a security team, we have decided those in the Kraal at KWS have seven days to vacate,” said Mohamed.
Addressing a public baraza at Kainuk after a series of meetings with security teams and opinion leaders from West Pokot and Turkana counties, Mohamed said there is no reason why those residing in the kraal cannot return to their homes since the rains have already arrived.
He assured residents and motorists of their security saying from Monday there will be no more highway robbery cases.
Mohamed regretted that bandits had recently even killed an unarmed 80-year-old who was grazing his goats.
“Why kill an innocent old man? You could have just stolen the goats and left the old man alone and let the security agencies deal with you,” he said.
He said highway banditry had crippled business at the Kainuk trading centre and interfered with the transport business to South Sudan.
At the same time, the regional commissioner warned that chiefs who fail to report incidents of livestock driven into their locations would be fired.
“Chiefs have performed well in other government duties but have not done well in containing cattle rustling. They need to involve village elders and Nyumba Kumi structures to report those behind cattle rustling in their areas,” he said.
Mohamed also said he’d ensure new national police reservists (NPRs) are vetted and deployed to the area to beef up security, adding that the reservists were disarmed after some rogue elements used their guns to commit crimes along the highways.
Turkana South MP James Lomenen, who was among those who attended the meeting, said cattle rustlers have now trained their guns on highway robbery adding the bandits have also chased the farmers from their farms and also affected business.
Lomenen said pastoralists who come to ask for grazing land should use peaceful means.
“You cannot ask for pasture by force,” he said.
He called on the government to ensure that all stolen livestock are recovered and returned to their owners.

Source: MY Gov