Rustlers burn down 14 houses

By Robert Kiplagat

Suspected cattle rustlers in Baringo County attacked two villages and set 14 houses on fire. Residents of Kagir and Barsuswa villages in Baringo North are now a worried lot after the burning of the houses. Three weeks ago, 22 houses were burnt down.

Area OCPD Omondi Musewe confirmed the incident and said the raiders abandoned the livestock they had rounded up when they realised they had been spotted.

“The raiders attacked the two villages but they were not successful in driving away the livestock they had stolen but burnt down houses,” he said.

Musewe said the cattle raiders have of late been razing homesteads after stealing, a trend that was worrying.

houses abandoned

So far, over 50 houses have been razed among them a primary school in the new tactic by the bandits viewed as a way of scaring the residents for territorial expansion.

Richard Chepchomei, a resident said the bandits attacked the villages at around 6pm on Sunday evening and gutted the houses that had been abandoned a few months ago after the residents fled the area following frequent attacks.

“There was nobody in the houses as the residents who used to live there had fled to neighbouring villages. We fear that these attacks could be about boundary and land expansionism,” he said.