The North Eastern Regional commissioner (RC), Mohamed Birik has urged area residents to desist from shedding blood over disputed boundaries whose mandate fall with the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Talking to KNA in his office on Wednesday, Birik said there have been boundaries related clashes among some neighbouring counties in the region.
Two weeks ago, there were protests as locals torched houses demanding answers over the killing of three people in Garissa County’s Lagdera sub county by suspected clan rivals from neighbouring Isiolo County.
“There are also boundary feuds between constituencies, including Eldas and Wajir West, Wajir South and Wajir West, and Lagdera in Garissa and Wajir South,” Birik said, adding the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will resolve the issues soon.
“We don’t want to lose human lives over something that can be resolved. Everyone should preach peace and live in harmony with neighbours,” he added.
The administrator said the government will soon embark on disarmament program to ensure firearms in the wrong hands are confiscated.
“It’s these illegal weapons in the wrong hands that have been fueling border disputes and used to kill innocent people,” he added.
The RC urged the locals to respect the prevailing laws, saying Kenya was a country governed by laws.
“Skirmishes, mainly inter-clan fighting, have been the source of under development in North Eastern region. Islam which majority of people professes here is against killings,” the administrator said.
Meanwhile, the RC has ordered parents whose children might have crossed over to Somalia to report to the authorities.
This, he said will help the State monitor their movement upon their return in the wake of home grown terrorism. Terror attacks, he added, has claimed lives of hundreds of Kenyans in the past, “Everyone has responsibility of security. We must flush out any suspicious character in our midst,” he said.
By Jacob Songok