A solemn mood has engulfed Kuikui village in Barwessa ward of Baringo North following the brutal killing of their son alongside other seven security officers by armed bandits in Turkana East on Saturday
Distressed family members who managed to speak to the press as tears flowed freely said the late John Kisoi, 32, a GSU officer, was set to come home for his annual leave a day before he met the untimely death.
Nelson Soi, brother, who was mostly in touch with the deceased said he had promised them that he would be returning home last Sunday after being granted leave. “We were expecting him at home but we got news of his sudden death while in the line of duty. We are still in shock,” he said.
Soi, speaking to journalists on Monday at their home in Kuikui said his brother was the only person in the family with a permanent job and sole provider after the passing on of their father in 2004 and mother recently.
Phillis Rerimoi, sister in law to the officer, while narrating the happenings of that fateful Saturday in which the officers were sprayed with bullets on their way to recover stolen livestock stated that his wife had made several calls to no avail.
The contingent of security officers which comprised of GSU; general duty service personnel were sprayed with bullets near Kakiteitei village in Napeitom ward while pursuing the heavily armed cattle rustlers who had raided the area and made away with livestock
A peace crusader, Mary Ekai Kanyaman, who had accompanied the officers in tracking the cattle rustlers was also killed.
“Upon getting no response at all, she came directly to my house to share the findings and we were so terrified that we could not sleep that night; we stayed awake thinking that he might respond after the long silence,” she said.
“On Sunday one of the brothers who was not at home arrived and it dawned on them that something bad had happened, which they finally found out,” said Rerimoi who was speaking amid sobs noting that they have lost a father and a mentor in the family.
Kaboskei Location Chief Felix Cherutoi who condoled with the bereaved said that the death was a big loss to the family and the community at large stating that they are optimistic that one time the insecurity menace especially within the Kerio Valley belt and Suguta Valley shall come to an end.
“We have lost so many lives and uncountable numbers of livestock and properties to these criminals but I am hopeful that a time will come when communities will coexist with each other harmoniously,” said Cheruiyot.
The chief urged the family and residents to remain calm and patient even as the government tries to formulate ways of arresting this situation which has made lives of people unbearable and miserable in the pastoralist inhabited Kerio belt for decades.
By Benson Kelio and Joshua Kibet
