One killed, two nursing serious injuries following Marakwet interclan clashes

Security personnel in Kapkondot, Marakwet. [Photo, File]

 

One person was shot dead and two others are nursing gunshot wounds following inter-clan clashes in Marakwet East on Thursday.

Security officials said the fighting between the two clans is complicating the war against cattle rustling at the Elgeyo Marakwet and West Pokot border.

In two weeks, three people have been killed.

In the latest incident, witnesses said armed men from Kapkeny and Kabasiran clans in Mogil
in Kerio Valley engaged in a fierce gun battle that lasted three hours, resulting in the death of an elderly man.

Elgeyo Marakwet police commander Kenneth Kimani said the inter-clan skirmishes are as a result of a protracted land dispute.

Kimani said the two rival clans have been claiming a piece of land in the vast Kerio Valley for several years. The matter is pending in court.

He said a contingent of police officers have been deployed to restore calm and arrest perpetrators.

The two injured men are aged 58 and mid 30s. They are admitted in serious condition at Kapsowar Mission Hospital in Marakwet West.

“We have urged elders to intervene and broker peace between the two clans. The police are pursuing suspects behind the attack,” Kimani said.

The inter-clan skirmishes broke out barely 24 hours after bandits suspected to be from the neighbouring West Pokot County raided Chemisto Village, Kipchumwa, on Wednesday night.

Godwin Kilimo, 15, who scored 336 marks to emerge top at Chemisto Primary School in the 2018 KCPE was shot on his arm. He is also admitted at Kapsowar Mission Hospital.

Kilimo told journalists from his hospital bed that he had gone to relieve himself in the middle of the night when he was attacked.

He said: “I ran back to the house and hid under my bed and that is when I discovered I was bleeding . My left hand had been shattered by a bullet.”

Ben Sawer, a doctor at the hospital, said Kilimo suffered multiple fractures in his elbow, adding it may be difficult to reconstruct.

“The chance of the boy having a fully normal elbow is close to zero. He is still under orthopaedic care,” Dr Sawer said.

Kimani, the county police boss, said the bandits fled without stealing livestock after shooting the teenager.

Resident Sarah Sumukwa said women and children are spending nights in the cold due to fear of attacks.

Two villagers and a police reservist were shot dead in cross border bandit attacks in Kipchumwa on Thursday last week. Elderly woman Teriki Chelanga was killed two days later at Liter by
bandits suspected to be from Lebei in West Pokot.

Embobut Embolot MCA Paul Kipyatich asked the state to arrest bandits suspected to be behind the attacks and killings. He warned that residents will hold protests if the armed bandits are not arrested within a week.