Do not use bows and arrows to retaliate banditry attacks, Rutto asks Kitui residents

Kitui County Commissioner, Kipchumba Rutto, has cautioned residents of volatile areas not to engage in counter attack, which may lead to long-drawn skirmishes.

During a security meeting on Tuesday, the commissioner said an operation will be conducted to restore peace along the common border between Kitui and Tana River counties.

“The use of bows and arrows to retaliate against attacks by herders with banditry tendencies amounts to taking the law into your hands, which is not allowed as it is criminal,” Rutto.

Armed herders from Northeastern, who had encroached into Kitui, were the source of fatal skirmishes, he said, adding that they would be evicted.

“I urge the residents not to take the law into their hands by using bows and arrows to force the herders out. Security men will use guns to drive the armed herders out and without compromise,” he said.

All illegally held guns will be recovered and their owners arrested and charged. 

Rutto was speaking at Mandongoi trading centre in Ngomeni, Mwingi North, following a raid by armed herders on locals last Friday.

He had led the security committee, including police commander Leah Kithei and the head of DCI, Samuel Bett, to the area.

The county DCI boss said five people from Mandongoi have been killed by herders since January. 

“As a government we are not going to assume that these are just mere statistics. These are lives that have been lost and a loss of one life is one too much. We are not going to allow such a loss,” Bett said.

The state upholds the sanctity of life and wanton killing would not be allowed, he added. 

The team was also accompanied by officials from the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, led by Liban Guyo.

Guyo, who empathised with the locals for the attacks they have endured, said the NCIC would work with leaders of the affected communities to ensure they co-existed peacefully.

“As a commission, we are against people taking the law into their hands. Any leader who incites their communities to cause ethnic violence will be dealt with according to the law,” he cautioned.

Residents have fled their homes following the attack, which left a boy's arm shattered with bullets.

A house and a food store with 100 bags of mung beans and cowpeas belonging to Ngeleke Muinde was razed to ashes by the armed herders.

Community members said the herders had for years made life for the locals unbearable.

Kitheka Mundumwiu, the personal assistant to Mwingi North MP, Paul Nzengu, called for action. 

“We are asking that the armed herders who come from as far as Wajir and Mandera to be sent back to their counties for our area to see peace. Innocent people have been killed by illegal guns. We want action to stop the menace,” Mundumwiu said.

Mary Mwendwa said there have been abductions and local women have been sexually molested and raped by the herders.

She demanded government action, calling for protection and justice for victims.

A church leader, Jeremiah Nyayo, told the media on the sidelines of the meeting that 67 locals had been felled by the herders’ bullets since 2013.

He said the bloodletting should be brought to an end.

Guyo said that as he empathized with the locals for the painful attacks they have endured; NCIC would work hand with the leaders of the communities involved in conflicts to ensure they co-existed peacefully.

“I a commission we are against people taking the law into their hands. Any leader who incites their communities to cause ethnic violence will be dealt with according to the law,” he cautioned.