Residents living along the border of Kitui and Tana River counties have been assured of an end to the perennial banditry menace.
This is after the County Assembly on Wednesday approved a motion on the insecurity caused to the residents of Mutha Ward by the Somali herders in the South Kitui Game Reserve.
The motion was moved by the area MCA Antony John as a matter of importance following recent attacks meted on residents by armed herdsmen.
John in his submission noted that the Game Reserve which covers nearly 75 percent of the entire ward has attracted the Somali herders who are believed to be from North Eastern Counties of Garissa, Wajir and Mandera.
“The herdsmen invaded the game reserve in 1991 and have since been attacking our people and my community each year causing deaths,” he stated.
The motion sought among other things to compel the county government to liaise with the national government to obtain an eviction order of the Somali herdsmen from the game reserve.
The motion also directs the county government to move with speed and collaborate with a communication network provider to ensure network connectivity in the areas worst hit by the insecurity for faster police responses.
“County government should also in conjunction with the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) degazette Inyali polling station in the game reserve which serves the herders.
The motion elicited a hot debate with members especially from the wards neighbouring the volatile border calling for a lasting solution to the suffering of their people.
Other wards which have been hard-hit by the bandits include Tseikuru and Ngomeni in Mwingi North, Endau/Malalani and Voo/Kyamatu in Kitui East and Nguni in Mwingi Central constituencies.
After the county lawmakers unanimously passed the motion, the Speaker, George Ndotto directed the Committee on Implementation led by David Thuvi (Kithumula/Kwamutonga Ward) to move with speed and ensure the motion and matters raised are implemented to end the insecurity menace along the Kitui- Tana River border.
“You are the people to set the ball rolling. The situation has persisted, people have died yet both county and national governments have done nothing,” the Speaker said.
The Majority whip Stephen Musili kicked off the debate saying there was need for radical measures to be undertaken in a bid to drive the herders out of the wildlife facilities in Kitui County.
“The county government should fence the game reserves and recruit enforcement officers who shall be supported by the police to man those facilities,” said the Kyuso Ward MCA.
“We have a County Executive Member for Tourism who is dancing all over the county when all this is happening,” Musili charged.
He lamented that it was unfortunate the herders were raping women in Mutha and many cases have gone unreported for fear of retaliation from the gun-wielding illegal herdsmen.
Nguni Ward MCA Jefferson Kiruru noted that the current administration of Governor Charity Ngilu has done very little to address the issues of banditry along the porous boundary.
The vocal Ward Rep accused the national government of failing to pay allowances to the recently recruited Local Police Reservists (LPRs).
Voo Kyamatu MCA Nelson Kivali recounted how bandits invaded his Ward late 2018 and brutally mutilated one of the residents prompting the setting up of a temporary police post in the area.
He however noted that there was a need for a lasting solution to the problem.
MCAs Ruth Kyene (Nzambani) and Mary Ndumbu (Nominated-Wiper) called on Kitui leaders to seek intervention from the national government by addressing the matter with the Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i.
By Yobesh Onwong’a
