The new Deputy Inspector General of Kenya Police Douglas Kanja was Friday sent to the North Rift to lead the ongoing operation against banditry.
Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome said Kanja was ordered to remain on the ground and lead Operation Maliza Uhalifu.
He added Kanja will replace his Administration Police Service counterpart Noor Gabow.
“The new DIG has instructions to remain there permanently and ensure the crime of livestock rustling ends. DIG Gabow will relocate to take care of borders so that we don’t have infiltration of al-Shabaab to the country,” Koome said.
“This nonsense has to stop. Killing one another has to stop. The government is doing a lot to address this menace.”
This comes amid continued attacks in the area with bandits stealing animals and leaving many dead.
More than 150 people have been killed and many injured in the past seven months alone.
Gabow has been leading the exercise for the past two months.
A meeting of top security officials at State House had settled on Gabow to be the new commander of the operation in North Rift because of his seniority, experience and the teams he leads in the service.
The meeting was chaired by President William Ruto and was attended by among others Chief of Defence Forces Gen Robert Kibochi and Koome.
Officials aware of the talks said the military had complained about a lack of clear command on the ground and wanted a senior police officer to lead the second phase of the exercise.
The same meeting again ordered Kanja to replace Gabow in the area.
The military is embedded in the multi-agency operation that is being led by police. Both Kanja and Gabow are hardened career police officers.
Kanja who has been the commandant of the General Service Unit will lead multi-agency teams in the six counties that are increasingly becoming ungovernable over gun attacks.
He will be assisted by Assistant Inspector General-SOG Gilbert Masengele.
SOG are specialised hardened officers who managed to drive bandits out of Laikipia last year.
They are currently deployed to Lamu and other places along the Kenya-Somalia border.
Officials said they are being deployed to North Rift to aid in the hunt for bandits. So far, about 200 assorted guns have been recovered from bandits in the region.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki imposed an initial dusk-to-dawn curfew in banditry-prone areas as he declared them disturbed and dangerous.
He at the same time revealed in the last seven months more than 150 Kenyans, including 20 officers, have been killed.
The initial 30 days curfew began on February 14, 2023.
Kindiki through a gazette notice said some areas in counties including Turkana, West Pokot, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Laikipia, and Samburu will be affected. He also declared parts of North Rift that have been affected by insecurity are disturbed and dangerous.
Kindiki said the government has determined the security situation currently prevailing in the Northern Rift Valley Region as a National Emergency.
Accordingly, painful and decisive measures must be taken effective immediately, he said. Kindiki ordered villagers in some areas to leave to enhance the operation.
The affected areas are Korkoron Hills, Tandare Valley and Silale Gorges in Baringo County, Mukogodo Forest, Kamwenje, Warero and Ndonyoriwo, Lekuruki Hills, Losos and Kiape Caves and Sieku Valley in Laikipia County and Ltungai Conservancy, Longewan, Nasuur, Lochokia and Lekadaar Escarpments, Lolmolok Caves, Pura Valley, Malaso Escarpment and Suguta Valley in Samburu county.
The other areas are Kapelbok, Nakwamoru, Lebokat, Ombollion, Nadome and Kamur caves in Turkana County, the Turkwell Escarpment at the interface of West Pokot and Turkana counties.
“The above-specified spaces are hereby declared scenes of crime and any person found therein from March 13, 2023, 0830 hours will be treated as a suspect of armed banditry, or as a suspect of aiding and abetting banditry, or an accessory after the fact,” Kindiki said.
He revealed the attackers are hiding at the bottom of gorges, escarpments, caves, ravines, hills and forests.
Defence Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale is among the top security officials who have visited various forward operating areas in the area to check on the progress of the ongoing operation against banditry in the region.
They reaffirmed the government’s commitment to end banditry, restore peace and normalcy in the six counties declared as dangerous and disturbed.
They said the multi-agency approach has enhanced their interoperability, skills sharing, and synergy that has made it possible to coordinate the operation across the six counties covering Operation Maliza Uhalifu (OMU) including Baringo, Samburu, Laikipia, Turkana, West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet.
