Interior CS Fred Matiang’i at the KBC Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) camp in Marsabit County on June 6, 2022. [Standard]

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i says more than 200 firearms and 3,000 bullets have been recovered from residents of Marsabit County in an ongoing security operation.

This comes as the government contemplates extending the 6pm to 6am curfew in the county post-August 9 General Election.

Marsabit, which has of late hit the news headlines due to unrest, has been under curfew since May 2, 2022.

Sporadic attacks, illegal gun trade and cattle rustling have been prevalent in the area, occasioning government intervention.

Speaking at the KBC Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) camp in Marsabit on Monday, June 6, the minister said: “We will stay on this assignment until this place remains peaceful. We have made assurances that we will not end the operation until after the general election because we want this place to be peaceful.”

Matiang’i, however, said that the government will review the curfew hours from 12 to a lesser period to allow traders operate optimally.

“We will review the curfew hours in three to four weeks’ time,” he said.

The government is targeting to recover at least 5,000 firearms from illegal owners.

The CS expressed frustrations that a former military officer, who is a key suspect in the trafficking of illegal weapons in Marsabit, had been set free by a court of law.

“I'm very disappointed about how that individual was released through the justice system in a manner that is not impressive to us. We are going back to court to appeal because we have sufficient evidence to incriminate that individual in activities that he has been doing,” he said.

The minister was accompanied to Marsabit County by Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai among other senior security officers.