Food prices shoot up as curfew bites in Lamu

Key towns in violence-hit Lamu County were deserted last night as the dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by authorities took effect.

Reports also showed that prices of farm produce were rising in areas like Lamu island that depend on supplies from Mpeketoni.

And officials of the Lamu County Security Committee were said to be in panic following reports they would be punished, charged or sacked following Friday's carnage.

Meanwhile, a top National Intelligence Service official in Lamu told The Standard that top Government officials from North Eastern region should be investigated for a possible role in Lamu and Tana River killings.

He warned that the new wave of violence, especially in Kipini and Kiunga, could be a revival of the 1963-1967 separatist campaign in the former Northern Frontier District that included the two counties.

Separately, residents claimed some Somali herdsmen allegedly arrested in Mpeketoni and Mokowe on July 14 cannot be traced.

In Lamu, local Muslims claimed the Government was wrongly linking them to the chaos in the area.

Lamu West MP Julius Ndegwa said he was opposed to indiscriminate arrests "which are not based on any evidence" and warned that the religious obligations of Muslims should not be interfered with.

Muslim leaders held a charged meeting at Mkunguni Square in Lamu town where they vowed to ignore the curfew, claiming it was interfering with Ramadhan prayers.

Meanwhile, local leaders led by former Garsen MP Danson Mungatana have called for  arming of citizens in all violence-prone areas to protect themselves.

"If the Government wants to deal with this problem once and for all, then it should train locals and provide them with guns in order to protect themselves," he said.