Former Rift Valley Regional Commissioner and current Trans Nzoia Governor, George Natembeya, has come out to shed light on the intricacies of the war against banditry, which he says has been crippled by top government officials.

Cattle rustlers and bandits have wreaked havoc in the country’s North Rift region, leading to the loss of hundreds of lives, displacement of residents, and loss of thousands of livestock in the past few years.

The most affected counties are Baringo, Turkana and Elgeyo Marakwet.

According to the former RC who served for three years until his resignation last year, there was a lack of goodwill from top security officials as well as financial constraints which crippled operations in the region.

In a Monday night interview with Citizen TV, Natembeya said he and officers under him were determined to weed out bandits, even with minimal input from the interior ministry.

“I wanted to be the last regional commissioner to talk about banditry. I was very enthusiastic with a lot of gusto and I mobilized all security agencies, my security officers all the way from Turkana to Baragoi and even held a meeting with all the KVDA commanders in Eldoret. I told them let us suffer for two-three months, but let no one who comes after us not suffer the way you have,” he said.

“We agreed that we are not going to ask any allowances from the government whatsoever apart from aerial support. We ensured we had enough fuel, vehicles and most importantly the go-ahead to move in. My commanders said they were ready to die protecting Kenyans.”

However, he said they were frustrated by a lack of support from their seniors, among them former Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho, whom he said did not pick or return phone calls when he tried to reach him.

“We were never given that approval. You brief the PS and it just ends there. Next time you call, they do not puck your call. How is it supposed to work?” he posed.

“For the three years I was Rift Valley RC, I spoke to the His Excellency the President, Uhuru Kenyatta, more times than I spoke to the PS. In that kind of circumstance, how do you succeed?”

‘Completely demoralised’

The former RC said his officers were operating without enough fuel and vehicles, as well as poor food supply, making them “completely demoralised” .

“Someone just woke up one day and said officers in operation areas should not be given any allowances whatsoever, not even hardship. The same salaries they are paid are the same a traffic officer in Nairobi is paid,” Natembeya said.

The former RC said his situation was made worse by the fact that he was held responsible for the war on banditry yet he was not given adequate support.

“You are just the chair of the region’s security committee. The things that you discuss sometimes the officers are supposed to implement but somehow someone who was not in the meeting ignores them,” he said.

“When I say things did not work, it is not that I as the RC did not do my part, I did and wanted to end that menace but I was not allowed to.”

Over 116 killed in the last six months

Interior CS Kithure Kindiki said in a statement to the media on Monday that 100 civilians and 16 police officers have been brutally murdered in the last six months by bandits and livestock rustlers.

Kindiki, whom President William Ruto has since relocated to the Rift Valley, declared Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Laikipia, and Samburu Counties to be 'disturbed and dangerous'.

In efforts to arrest the festering security situation, the government also ordered all persons across the country in possession of illegal firearms and ammunition to surrender them willingly within the next three days. 

Those who fail to surrender the guns within the stipulated time will face the full brunt of the law, the statement said. 

In the meantime, President Ruto has also ordered a joint operation by the National Police Service and the Kenya Defence Forces within the troubled area in efforts to weed out bandits.

On Friday, six people, among them four police officers, lost their lives in a bandit attack on the Kitale - Lodwar highway at Kaakong area of Turkana County.

Seven officers, including a sub-county Police Commander, were also hospitalised with gunshot wounds in the gunfight that lasted hours into the night.

The fierce gunfight was recorded by a passenger in a vehicle that was part of a convoy of vehicles escorted by police, and showed bandits numbering about 300 in the bush.

On Thursday, three people were killed and one critically injured in another attack at Kakong area in Turkana South, where bandits who posed as bystanders along the road ambushed a Lodwar-bound Public Service Vehicle, spraying it with bullets.