Nine-year-old boy killed in Baragoi cattle rustling incident

By Geofrey Mosoku

NAIROBI, KENYA: MPs from Samburu County now want the government to employ local police reservists to help in fighting banditry in Baragoi area.

The legislators claimed that the current GSU and ASTU camps had failed to curb the rising incidents of cattle rustling with the latest being Wednesday dawn where over 30 cattle were stolen and a nine year old boy killed.

“The role of Government is to provide security but we are perturbed by the nature in which bandits operate and kill our people at will,” Samburu North MP Musa Lentoimaga said.

He said that they had received reports of the killing of the 9-year-old which they said was regrettable.

Lentoimaga who was accompanied by Maison Leshoomo (Women rep) and Raphael Letimalo (Samburu east) claimed that the raiders had passed 500 metres from the police posts who appear helpless.

“If the current officers deployed are not able to deal with the raiders, the government should engage our own people as reservists since they understand the terrain very well,” he added.

The MPs who were addressing a press conference at parliament buildings also wondered why the state was reluctant to conduct a disarmament process following an expiry of amnesty to return guns that were stolen from police officers during the infamous Baragoi massacre.

“The Cabinet Secretary was in Baragoi in July and gave an amnesty to return the stolen guns and two months after the expiry of the deadline, no action has been taken,” Letimalo added.

Leshoomo said that Samburu leaders have been camping at the office of the president and severally petitioned the Inspector General of police over insecurity in the county but no tangible action is being taken.

“It’s our appeal to the President to directly intervene and help save the lives and property of the people of Samburu,” Leshoomo added.