Incidents of insecurity are synonymous with the country's north, with residents of Turkana, Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties bearing the brunt of the cyclic cases of banditry that often leave a trail of death, destruction and loss of property.

Each attack sparks action from the government but this has not served to eradicate the vice.

Former Rift Valley regional Commissioner George Natembeya attributes this to a number of factors, key amongst them how security personnel are resourced.

“These police officers whom you see being gunned down, there’s no one of them who is given allowances. The salaries they get while serving in areas like Kapedo are similar to their traffic counterparts in the city. There is no incentive,” he says.

The former regional security chief says the situation is so dire for the security personnel that they are often compromised.

“Even food, they do not have. It reaches a point they resort to unholy alliances with bandits such that they give away bullets for goats so they can get something to eat,” Natembeya says.

But it is not just matters of security officers and the lack of motivation and incentive that makes this insecurity issue a tough nut to crack.

Security analysts also blame the government for lacking an effective strategy when it comes to its interventions in the banditry-prone areas.

Security experts contend that the presence of the armed security personnel on the ground may prove to be detrimental especially if the officers are not familiar with the terrain and the people's ways of life, which makes it much harder to effectively police the area, and handle the battle hardened elements there in.

Perhaps the hardest piece of the insecurity puzzle lies in the faces behind the banditry.

The driving force behind most of the attacks is cattle rustling, a lucrative business that is believed to be funded by powerful shadowy figures that have ensured that the rustlers are well-armed with guns and bullets.

Lack of political will has also been blamed for the inability to flush out and deal with the financiers of the attacks, despite efforts by successive governments.

The country's latest Cabinet Secretary for Interior, Kithure Kindiki, is now having a go at dismantling the insecurity problem. Whether he succeeds where others have failed is a question that only time will answer.