Tackle Turkana-Pokot border insecurity once and for all

KENYA: Many Kenyans continue to lose their lives daily due to insecurity along the Pokot-Turkana border.

The media has for the last three days portrayed the security intricacies in the Lorogon area as ominous. The screaming headlines have been indicating that bandits believed to be from the Pokot community have held hostage military camps in Lorogon and that the combined security forces from the nearby counties cannot access this village as the access roads have been blocked by the bandits.

The inability of the National Government to provide security and solve the endemic border conflict could be the real reason why these conflicts have persisted.

This inability to keep peace has killed the would-be multimillion Turkwel irrigation project that could transform the lives of the citizen in the region.

Politicians have had a hand in the past. It is my wish that the current crop of leaders won’t take this route.

It beats all logic to see security forces deployed with the general citizenry on matters insecurity. This comes as a result of the non-allocation of funds to officers deployed to patrol the zone.

This non-allocation, in my view, is not because of lack of funds but as a result of mis-directed priorities and the fact that the Pokot-Turkana conflict, which has been going on for ages, is considered as a minor internal turmoil.

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto should be aware that the Pokot-Turkana conflict has transversed governments; from the Moi era through Kibaki rule and now to their tenure.

Digital Government

The people of West Pokot and Turkana counties are looking upon the intervention of Uhuru’s Government to end this border conflict once and for all. After all, this is a digital government that wants to do things differently.

Will the people of these two counties still include President Kenyatta and his deputy in the list of governments that did not act? Yes, they will, if their government shall not approach the issue differently.

It is my belief that the county governments of West Pokot and those of Turkana are more than willing to support the National Government in its quest to resolve this conflict. This cannot be left to the county governments alone as the conflict transverses county governments who aren’t in control of the security apparatus.

The media also should not take sides in this conflict, as that may portray one community as aggressor, when in actual sense they aren’t. Turkana is the second largest community living and owning property within West Pokot County and it will be out of order to say the Pokot community can’t live peacefully with the Turkana.

We should all abhor killings and loss of property in the conflict. The national leaders as well as the county governments should to sit down and tackle this insecurity once and for all.

{Titus Lotee, Deputy Governor West Pokot County}