By Adow Jubat
Leaders from Ijara District in Garissa County have protested the alleged harassment of pastoralists from the area by security officers in Lamu County.
The leaders accused police from the coastal town of mistreating nomadic communities who went there in search of pasture and water for their animals.
Ijara County Council Chairman Hussein Futi told The Standard hundreds of herders who moved to neigbouring Lamu for pasture and water as a result of the dry spell in North Eastern region have been arrested and detained in police cells.
Councillor Futi said in the last two weeks alone, more than 80 herders were arrested and over 500 cows confiscated in Lamu County.
The herders, according to Mr Futi, have been held in various cells in Ibidu, Mpeketoni, Lamu, Hindi and Makowe for days without being charged, as required by law.
They asked the Kenya National Human Rights Commission and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission to visit police cells in Mpeketoni, Witu and Ibidu to ascertain claims of corruption and human rights violation committed by police officers.
