Lenku, Kimaiyo bid to solve riddle of AP officers' killings by bandits hits snag

NAIROBI, KENYA: A meeting to discuss the massacre of 21 Administration Police officers in Kapedo, between Baringo leaders and Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph ole Lenku and Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo ended in disarray.

Sunday, the leaders openly differed shortly before President Uhuru Kenyatta toured the area where the killings by suspected Pokot bandits took place.

Sources privy to the meeting that took place in Soi Safari Lodge in the county said blame game among Pokot leaders ensued in the morning meeting.

Lenku and Kimaiyo, who had spent the night at the hotel, later left without uttering a word to the Press camped outside awaiting an official statement as earlier promised. "I cannot speak to the Press now," Kimaiyo said before speeding off to the nearby Kampi Samaki airstrip in Tiaty MP Asman Kamama's vehicle.

Leaders who attended the meeting that began at 8am were Baringo Senator Gideon Moi, woman representative Grace Kiptui, Kamama, Speaker William Kamket, West Pokot Senator John Lonyangapuo and Kapenguria MP Samwel Moroto.

A source told The Standard Kamama and Kamket tore into each other over who was responsible for incitement leading to the attacks by the suspected Pokot bandits.

According to the source, Kamket openly blamed Kamama for his arrest, alleging he was fighting him politically.

MURDER CHARGES

The Speaker was arrested on Tuesday last week in Nairobi on his way to Turkey and charged in an Eldoret court alongside two Members of County Assembly (MCAs) with incitement to murder charges. The MCAs are Nelson Lotela (Silale) and Daniel Tuwitt (Ripko).

A furious Kamket, the source said, explained his innocence to Lenku and Kimaiyo, arguing his arrest was purely "Kamama's political scheme to edge me out of Pokot politics".

Kamket vied for the post of MP in Tiaty during the last elections and lost to Kamama who is currently the chairman of the powerful House team on National Security and Administration. "Kamket blamed Kamama for his arrest. Lenku was dismayed to hear about it and asked Kamama what the exact origin of the differences was," said the source.

But Kimayo and Lenku could not reconcile the two as their differences seemed deep-rooted, the source added.

And in Kabarnet town, a section of MCAs asked President Kenyatta to reject calls by some Pokot leaders to suspend the disarmament exercise that had started before the Friday killings.

Deputy majority leader Joseph Makilap said the only way to attain peace in the North Rift is through the President effecting a full-scale disarmament of Pokots.

"We plead with the President whose Government we fully support to fully effect the operation in Pokot in his capacity as the Commander-In-Chief and restore peace in this volatile region," said the MCA.

Mr Makilap said it was disrespectful to the Government for bandits carrying illegal weapons to ambush and kill police officers and be allowed to walk free.

"We know Pokot leaders are resisting the disarmament but we have no other option. As the county assembly of Baringo we reject efforts to stifle a State directive meant to benefit the entire society. The President should stop at nothing until all weapons are mopped up," he said.

Before these killings, eight police officers, who were ferrying Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examination to a school in Turkana East constituency, were attacked.