Two more people were on Saturday shot dead by bandits in Kerio Valley, pushing the death toll to seven in just a week as insecurity worsens there.
The latest victims were two men who were shot dead along Kerio River that is also the border between West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet counties.
Marakwet East MP Kangogo Bowen and Elgeyo Marakwet Woman Representative Jane Chebaibai led residents in fresh protests during which they called for immediate intervention by the government.
“We have had all manner of government officials including Interior CS Fred Matiang'i coming here to promise security but the situation is always worsening," Bowen said.
Just last week, Rift Valley regional commissioner George Natembeya was in the area and promised the government will send a team of police from the Rapid Deployment Unit to conduct a security operation in the region.
Natembeya's tour came after bandits killed four people including a widow and her two children.
The administrator said the operation expected to start next week will cover Elgeyo Marakwet, West Pokot and Baringo counties.
“Those who have been perpetrating attacks will now feel the full force of the law,” Natembeya said.
He said key masterminds of the attacks have been identified.
A meeting of elected and opinion leaders for the three counties will also be held this week to chart the way forward.
Each of the schools in the region has been provided with two armed police officers to ensure safety for children.
Chebaibai said women and children were suffering and that time had come for the government to change tack and enforce new measures to tackle banditry.
The three counties are considering suspending development projects in Kerio Valley and directing resources to the insecurity problem following the increased killings.
Elgeyo Marakwet Governor Alex Tolgos said they were discussing with his West Pokot counterpart John Lonyangapuo and Baringo Governor Stanley Kiptis whether to suspend development projects in the region and instead police reservists to protect communities.
More than 20 people have been killed in two months in the region.
Tolgos decried the deteriorating security situation in Kerio Valley and appealed to President Uhuru Kenyatta to personally intervene.
The latest victims were shot dead in Kapen area by bandits who did not steal anything. Tolgos said the killings indicate that the attacks were no longer about cattle rustling.
“When they kill school children, a mother and an officer who were not armed in any way and did not have cattle, we can't still say it’s about cattle rustling. This is a different issue,” the governor told reporters in Eldoret.
He called for the reintroduction of police reservists. The government suspended the deployment of national police reservists three years ago but the leaders want them restored.
“We know the government was not able to pay the reservists but now we are saying they hire the NPRs but counties will use their resources from suspended projects to pay them,” Tolgos said.
The county chief said police bosses had not implemented measures suggested at previous security meetings in the region.
“It has reached a point where we no longer care about development in the region. What we now want is to secure the lives of our people as a priority because county projects can wait,” Tolgos said.
He spoke even as the Kenya National Union on Teachers threatened to withdraw their members from schools in the Kerio Valley.
Knut county secretary for Elgeyo Marakwet John Cheberi said many children and teachers had lost their lives in banditry attacks in the region and that it was impossible for learning to continue.
He said unless measures were enforced to end banditry attacks, they will ask teachers to shut down the schools for their safety and that of the learners.
All the seven victims are yet to be buried. The widow was identified as Caroline Kemboi and her two children Jeptoo aged 14 and Kiprono, 12.
The children were learners at Liter and Sambalat primary schools.
Endo ward agricultural officer Benjamin Sum was shot in the head at Kapkobil along Tot-Chesongoch road, just a kilometre away from his Tot work station. The other victims are yet to be identified.
Locals have accused Interior CS Fred Matiang'i of failing to end banditry in the region.
Professionals led by Laxaman Kiptoo said more than 20 people had been killed in the last two months alone.
“Our security teams are unable to deal with the problem in Kerio Valley and we are asking the government to deploy Kenya Police Reservists so that they can protect our people,” Kiptoo said.
More police officers have been deployed to the area to strengthen security.
“We wonder for how long will our people be exposed to such suffering yet we have a government that is supposed to protect all of us,” Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen said.
Edited by P.O