The Rift Valley Regional Commissioner (RC), George Natembeya has asked all cowardly chiefs from Samburu County to resign since they are afraid to combat cattle rustling in their areas.
A furious Natembeya blamed chiefs and their assistants for fueling cattle rustling activities by being soft on bandits who terrorise herders in Samburu East and Samburu North sub counties.
“When livestock are stolen, the area chief who is the government representative says he does not know who stole them or they didn’t see or hear anything; these are cowards and I will not work with them,” averred Natembeya.
The administrator insisted that chiefs must be in the forefront in the fight against cattle rustling since they know every resident in their area adding that the police are only sent to assist.
“If cows are stolen from one area and brought in your location and you fail to report immediately you will be sacked,” he warned.
Addressing chiefs at the Allamano hall in Maralal town on Wednesday, Natembeya directed them to ensure that there is 100 percent ECD and standard one enrollment come January next year saying that the task will be part of their appraisal.
At the same time, the administrator noted that in the African Union (AU) resolutions, the month of September gives amnesty to those who voluntarily return illegal firearms to the authorities.
He further encouraged Samburu residents holding illegal firearms to voluntarily surrender them to the government authorities.
“After September, the government will carry out a concurrent forceful firearm mop up exercise of the entire north rift region,” he added.
Natembeya assured residents that after the fire arm mop up exercise, the government will identify and train more National Police Reservists (NPR) who will reside in barracks and respond to emergencies under the command of a senior police officer.
He said that the mop up exercise will not spare the senior civil servants, politicians and other opinion leaders that arm herders who look after their cattle.
The RC urged the ever warring Samburu and Turkana communities to live in peace and stop killing each other.
“When you are fighting, the leaders you have elected are busy squandering money meant for development since there is nobody to hold them accountable,” he said.
During his visit of Samburu, the RC was accompanied by the Rift Valley security team which included the Regional Police Commander, the Regional Intelligence Coordinator and the Regional Criminal Investigations Coordinator.
By Robert Githu
