Trans Nzoia governor George Natembeya has claimed that the welfare of police officers deployed to fight bandits in the bandit-prone regions is devastating.

According to Governor Natembeya, a lot is being kept behind wraps regarding the conditions officers are subjected to and the matter has been totally ignored.

Speaking during a thanksgiving service in Nakuru on Sunday, Governor Natembeya laid bare the dire state officers are forced to endure, noting that he got to witness the conditions while serving as the Rift Valley Regional Commissioner.  

During his tenure at the RC, Natembeya noted that he never received any funds to combat insecurity in the region, more reason why he chose to resign from the job.

"I was the Regional Commander in Rift Valley and I really fought with insecurity. There are things you'll never be told Mr. President. During my 3-year tenure as the RC I did not receive even a single cent to fight insecurity," he said.

He went on to add that the officers barely receive any allowances and earn the same salary as traffic officers. 

So appalling is the situation, Natembeya added, that officers are forced to exchange ammunition with bandits just to get goats to cater for their meals.

"These officers who we see are being shot dead, and none of them is being given allowance the salary they get is the same a traffic police officer receives. There is no incentive whatsoever," he said.

He added: "It even gets to a point officers are forced to engage in an unholy alliance with the bandits. They give out bullets in exchange for goats so that they can get something to eat. We have really embarrassed ourselves."

"We even requested more manpower from the army and the former president provided the team for 10 days. And what happened at the Laikipia conservancy is what made me quit this job because officers are given the coordinates where the bandits are but they end up attacking a different place because the people they are meant to fight are the same ones benefiting them."

Governor Natembeya urged President William Ruto to address the matter expeditiously and be hands on with matters facing citizens and not be blinded by the facade being portrayed in public.

"If there is one thing you will leave with from this meeting Mr. President, do not accept to be shielded from your people and the truth," he said.

"Because as a leader people might want to just show you the good things, you come here and you walk on a red carpet yet on the other side people are being killed. Please don't lose touch with the common mwananchi."