The government will build houses for families that lost their homes to banditry attacks in Ol-Moran, Laikipia West Constituency.
Laikipia County Commissioner Joseph Kanyiri, while receiving iron sheets, among other building materials, food and non-food items on behalf of the victims, said that already 14 houses had been put up in a bid to resettle them.
“We have received lamps, utensils, iron sheet and nails as well as blankets. We have also received mattresses and are awaiting another consignment of household goods. Fourteen houses are already roofed and we are working together with the county government to ensure a wall is also erected for every household,” noted the Commissioner.
Stabilizer soil blocks will be used to reinforce the walls of the houses, he said, noting that the move was meant to restore peace and co-existence in the region.
The Commissioner noted that the project that has started at Kisii Ndogo village where a number of houses were torched by the bandits, saying that construction of security roads, excavation of water-pans as well as construction of classrooms would follow soon.
“In addition, the Government through the Kenya Defense Forces will also put up two classrooms at Merigwet Primary School as well as water-pans for the herders in a bid to improve the security situation in this region,” he added.
While calling for peaceful co-existence amongst the herders and farmers groups in the area, Kanyiri regretted that a number of livestock owners bought guns for herders seeking grazing lands, saying that none would be spared in the efforts to restore peace in Laikipia County.
“We are working on a programme to deploy more National Police Reservists (NPR) together with security officers. We won’t condone incidences where a person wants to reap where they did not sow,” said Kanyiri regretting that opposers would be given a deaf ear.
The residents who received the items lauded the government move, regretting that they had even lost crops to the bandits who not only grazed their livestock on the farms but also looted.
“I am here going hungry yet I cannot access my maize unless the police escort me to the farm,” cried Gerald Njugi, whose five-acre maize plantation was lost to the illegal herders.
Marcellah Manoti, whose house was torched at Kisii Ndogo village, thanked the government for the resettlement programme, lauding the operations that had gone a long way in keeping the bandits away.
By Anne Sabuni
