Leaders from Meru, Marsabit, Samburu, and Isiolo counties have accused security officers of laxity in responding to calls of distress, when their communities are attacked by cattle rustlers in the region.
The leaders attributed the delay in police response to livestock thefts to residents’s self-inflicted lawlessness, resulting in the loss of lives and property.
However, in a peace meeting at Nasuulu Conservancy in Burat Ward, Isiolo County, chaired by the area Deputy County Commissioner Patrick Musango, he emphasised the need for the Sub-County Security Committee’s swift response to cattle rustling to deter the community’s retaliation measures.
The elders added that the slow response by the police gave the criminals time to escape with the stolen animals, thus promoting the desire for vengeance by the aggrieved party.
Musango advised communities’ council of elders to instead review their cultural practices and scrap the outdated ones.
He further instructed chiefs and their assistants to report National Police Reservists (NPRs) deployed to secure private premises.
The DCC said that NPRs are security officers under the National Police Service and are answerable to OCS and not any other person.
At the same time, he directed chiefs and their assistants to ensure NPRs from their areas of jurisdiction reside where communities are located and not operate from towns.
Meanwhile, Musango said the government had already improved the local security situation, citing the recent acquisition of two special modern vehicles which are well-suited for combating criminals even in harsh terrain.
By Abduba Mamo
