As the government steps up its campaign against banditry in the dangerous North Rift region, President William Ruto has ordered a joint security drill between the Kenya Defense Forces and the National Police Service.
A three-day voluntary disarmament exercise will begin tomorrow, the Head of State said on Monday 13th, while addressing local leaders from the Nakuru State Lodge. The procedure will make it possible to give up a gun without repercussions.
The president previously gave the Interior Affairs CS Kithure Kindiki the order to relocate to the North Rift until all bandits were gone.
During a Thanksgiving service on Sunday in Nakuru, Ruto announced that he had sent Prof. Kindiki from his office on Harambee Avenue to the area that was experiencing security problems where the government is expecting to restore order.
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"CS Kindiki was in Baringo today; therefore, he's not here today. Yesterday, he was in Turkana. President Ruto added that I'd instructed him to abandon his Nairobi office and move to the North Rift to live there till the banditry stops.
He promised to ensure that there won't be more lives lost due to bandit attacks, stating his government has carefully planned how to combat banditry in the coming days.
"We have implemented every step within our power as a government. The Head of State vowed to deal with those few arrogant people and ensure that no Kenyan perished at their hands.
In the country's North Rift region, cattle rustlers and bandits have inflicted havoc, resulting in the loss of thousands of livestock, homes, and lives.
Elgeyo Marakwet, Turkana, and Baringo counties are the most severely impacted.
Six persons, including four police officers, were killed in a bandit ambush on the Kitale-Lodwar route in Turkana County just two days ago, on Friday.
Seven cops, including a sub-county police commander, were hospitalized simultaneously due to gunshot wounds sustained during the hours-long shootout that continued into the night.
A passenger in a car that was part of a convoy of cars police captured the intense shootout witnessed by roughly 300 bandits hiding in the jungle.
Three people died, and one was hurt badly in another attack on Thursday in Turkana South's Kakong district, where shooters ambushed a public service vehicle headed towards Lodwar and pelted it with gunshots while pretending to be onlookers on the side of the road.
