Kericho, Nandi, Kisumu governors tour volatile areas on county border

Three governors toured hotspots at their common border amid burning of sugarcane plantations and cattle theft.

Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony, Stephen Sang (Nandi) and their Kisumu counterpart, Prof Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o toured volatile areas in Soin ward in Soin/Sigowet constituency at the common border of the three counties and came face to face with the state of lawlessness.

As the leaders addressed uneasy residents at Koguta area, thick smoke was billowing at sugar plantations at the nearby Thessalia mission hospital.

The acres of land belonging to Muhuroni sugar factory were set ablaze by unknown arsonists.

“The campaign period which caused sharp divisions among members of the Kalenjin and the Luo community has come to an end and it is time to mend the fences. Inter-counties business activities should resume. Kericho traders should be able to travel to Kisumu and not be harassed and vice-versa,” said Chepkwony.

The Kericho governor added that his administration will not allow bloodletting to occur in the name of politics.

“We have practiced brotherhood with our Luo brothers and sisters for a long time to now maim and kill each other,” said Chepkwony as he encouraged intermarriages between the two communities.

Speaking at Kipsitet trading center Prof Nyong’o defended the NASA supporters’ demonstrations which is believed to be the cause of disharmony between members of the Luo and Kipsigis community.

“The angry Awasi residents who barricaded the Kericho- Kisumu highway at Awasi trading center did not block it because they were targeting members of the Kalenjin community, they were angry with how the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) conducted the August 8th General Election,” he said.

The statement seemed to rub the wrong way Kipsitet trading center residents who majority are Jubilee supporters who jeered the governor.

But the NASA governor prodded on: “As NASA leaders, we had said we didn’t want to participate in the election but the Jubilee administration dispatched heavily armed police officers who clamped down on our supporters and raped the women”.

Nonetheless, Sang argued that national political differences should not be allowed to spill into the villages and cause disharmony among the various communities.

“As governors of the neighboring counties we must agree that even if we have differences at the national level, it must not be allowed to spill into the villages and cause disharmony among the locals,” he said.

Prof Nyong’o at the same time called for a lasting solution for the perennial cross border cattle theft.

Felix Omolo, a resident of Koguta village, claimed that suspected cattle thieves from the neigbouring community struck on Friday night and drove away 11 herds of cattle towards Lelaitich village.

“We vow as the three governors who have come here today that our respective administration will deal ruthlessly with the cross border cattle thieves,” said Prof Nyong’o.

Sang, called on the local security committees to be on high alert for cattle thieves who might be tempted to take advantage of the uneasy calm in the area to steal the domestic animals.