15 people behind bars in connection to Mt Elgon killings

Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang'i and the Western regional coordinator Anne Ngetich during a past peace talk in the region. [File, Standard]

At least 15 people have been arrested and taken to court in connection with attacks in Mt Elgon.

In an Interview with The Standard, Western Regional Coordinator Anne Ng’etich said only four suspects of the targeted gang are still at large saying police were in hot pursuit of them.

Ms Ng’etich said the four suspects who are on the run are the ring leaders of the outlawed criminal gang known as G5 that has been giving residents sleepless nights.

“We are urging the area residents to volunteer information to the police that will help the security team to get hold of Timothy Kiptanui Kitai alias Cheparkach the G5 ring leader. He is the mastermind of all the recent criminal activities in Mt Elgon,” said Ms Ng’etich.

Cheparkach, who has been in and out of prison since 2005, and together with his generals have been carrying out their criminal activities in Cheptais, Chesikaki, Kaptama, Kapsokwony and Chepyuk.

Adding “Since the government imposed a three-month curfew in the area, we haven’t recorded criminal activities since February this year. Wananchi also want the curfew to continue so as to bring the situation to normalcy”.

As a way of bring long lasting peace in Mt Elgon, the Regional Commissioner said the government has partnered with leading mobile service providers, Safaricom and Telkom Kenya to install communication masks.

“Communication has been a problem making it impossible for the police to carry out operations since the network was not dependable. The contractors are already on site and are erecting masks in the whole constituency,” she said.

Ng’etich said the government is also rehabilitating a 12km road from Cheptais to Chepyuk Settlement Scheme by putting murram on it to ease police operations.

“We will be putting murram on the road and other feeder roads to ensure their quick response by the police whenever an incident happens. In future, the government will tarmac the road,” she said.

Meanwhile, Bungoma County Commissioner James Kianda has said the ministries of Interior and Coordination and the Farida Karoney-led Lands Ministry have joint hands to find a long lasting solution in the troubled Mt Elgon.

He said they security team that has been on the ground since the attacks started has established that the mother of all the criminal attacks has been the land ownership issue.

Mr Kianda said majority of the area residents do not know where there land boundaries reach and more so they don’t have title deeds to the respective parcels of land they live in.

 “The government has sent 48 land surveyors in the area who have been tasked with the responsibility of establishing the real boundaries of people’s parcels of land find the specific land owners and help them acquire title deeds,” said Mr Kianda.

He said they have also mounted 24-hour police operations in the entire constituency to mop out any elements of criminal activities to ensure that they contain the situation that had seen people start fleeing away from their homes.