Soldiers To Be Deployed In West Pokot To Curb Banditry

President William Ruto promised that more military personnel would be deployed to West Pokot to maintain peace and fight bandits.

The president of state spoke during the commissioning of the Cemtech Limited clinker facility in West Pokot, condemning the bandit assaults that have plagued the region.

“I want to say this while I'm in West Pokot. In the next two days, the army will be in Chesogon and will come there to ensure the schools are built. They will be there to ensure that when schools open next term, the children of those schools will be there,” said Ruto.

“It cannot be the case in the 21st century in Kenya, a democratic country, that children do not attend school because of the few offenders who want to steal cows and damage property.”

Ruto stated that any schools that have been destroyed would be repaired.

"If any school is damaged, we will build a new one to ensure our children return to school," he said.

President Ruto's statement comes days after the Inspector General (IG) of Police, Japhet Koome, issued a warning to criminals operating in the nation.

In a press release on April 2, Koome cautioned bandits to quit their violent behavior or face the full power of the law.

“Let me be clear, that whether the resurgence of these attacks is attributed to retaliations among members of communities, or collaboration among communities to attack members of other communities, or be they targeted attacks on security personnel and installations, expansionist tendencies, or the commercialization of banditry as the case has been, my message to the bandits is one: stop or face the full force of the law,” reads the statement in part.