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Kenya: Gang, Army Terrorize Villagers in Mt Elgon
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The East African Standard (Nairobi)
23 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
Isaiah Lucheli
Nairobi
When the military was deployed to Mt Elgon to flush out members of Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF), residents were optimistic peace would return to the district after two years of terror, extortion and murder.
But one month into the operation, the villagers have cried foul and accused the disciplined forces of torture and harassment.
Most of them have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in forests, caves and neighbouring districts.
The soldiers hunting down suspected SLDF members from the air and the ground have allegedly killed innocent people including women and children who had sought refuge in caves.
Trading centres have become ghost places, schools closed and farms abandoned as the villagers flee from the military operation.
Mt Elgon, once the grain basket for the neighbouring Bungoma, Teso and Kitale towns, is now a pale shadow of itself, and displaced villagers rely on relief rations for survival.
Kopsiro and Cheptais divisions are the worst hit. The villagers have faced the wrath of both SLDF and military officers.
Families have been forced to seek refuge in Kapsokwony and Kaptama divisions in the district, while others have fled to Uganda and the Chepkitale Game Reserve in Trans Nzoia District.
"When the operation got under way and the military started arresting people indiscriminately, villagers sought refuge in caves but the military bombed them in their hideouts. I do not know the number of people killed but many villagers are missing," Mr John Ndiema, a resident, told The Sunday Standard.
Ndiema says most residents are scared of venturing into the forest to look for their relatives for fear of being shot or bombed by the helicopters combing the vast forest.
"The forest and the caves are a no-go zone because the military are bombing the area. May be after the operation we can establish the number of people killed," he says.
Over 3,000 suspected SLDF members have been arrested and interrogated at Kapkoto Primary School.
A majority of them have been released and 237 were arraigned in court.
Most of those who had been arrested have narrated how the military officers tortured them in a bid to get information.
"I was in my house on the outskirts of Cheptais having tea when the military stormed my home and arrested me," says Mr David Kimutai.
Kimutai explains how he was huddled together with a group of about 30 men who had also been picked up from their homes.
"We were forced to lie on our tummies and the mean-looking military officers clubbed us with gun butts while others kicked us with their boots as they raided more homes," he recounts.
Kimutai says they were then taken to the military base at Kapkoto where they found over 1,500 men arrested in Kopsiro and Cheptais divisions.
"The military base was crowded and we were put in groups as the officers started screening us. We were hit with gun butts and kicked in the process," says Kimutai, who sustained head injuries.
He says those suspected to be militiamen or informers were separated from the others.
"Those identified to be suspected members of the gang were held in the camp where they were further interrogated and tortured into divulging information before being handed over to the police," he claims.
Kimutai was treated at the Chwele Health Centre and discharged.
Last week, a secondary school student and a young woman fell from a cliff and died as they fled from a military helicopter that was pursuing them.
The woman was identified as Selina Chebet, but the student was not immediately identified.
Others killed in the operation include Kimria Chepchua and Isaac Kapchere.
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Men, especially the young, have been forced to either flee the district or remain indoors for fear of being arrested or beaten by the military officers.
Mr John Kirui was not lucky when he met the military officers as he was leaving home and in panic attempted to flee.
They pursued him and when they caught up with him, he was beaten and left for dead. He is now nursing injuries at the local health centre.
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