Kenya: Hiyo Bunduki Umepewa Si Maua, Kindiki Tells Police Officers

23 November 2022

Nairobi — Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki has directed security agents across the country to utilize the firearms assigned to them in dealing ruthlessly with criminals wherever necessary.

Speaking Tuesday during a tour of Laikipia North sub-county, Olmoran Kindiki said the security officers are justified to use their service weapons against criminals to defend themselves and the lives of citizens whenever they feel their lives is in danger.

The Interior CS stated that the government will no longer negotiate with the criminals and illegal invaders who have defied repeated pleas to leave and assured the police of protection against possible retribution for enforcing the evictions.

"The guns you have are neither flowers nor ornaments. They are the property of the Government that has entrusted them to you to protect the lives and properties of citizens and yourselves from criminals and other rogue elements," Kindiki said as he issued a warning shot to herders who have invaded private farms in Kitui, Laikipia and Meru counties.

Kindiki said that the government will no longer debate its response measures against criminals who continue to wreak havoc across the country citing past incidences when security agents have been killed by bandits as a result of exercising restraint.

"We will not indulge in sideshows with those who wish to drag us into pointless theatrics. Just recently, we lost eight police officers in Turkana East due to a bandit attack. We also lost 42 security officers in Baragoi to criminals a few years ago, and yet there are some who suggest that we should bargain with criminals who are out to kill our police officers. "We will not negotiate with them," the Interior CS said in a veiled reference to rights groups.

He, however, urged the security personnel not to misuse their firearms while executing their mandate but use them to secure their lives, the lives of citizens, and their property.

He however urged the security personnel not to misuse their weapons while executing their mandate, but rather to use them to protect their own lives, the lives of civilians, and their property.

He said sufficient financial, material, and human resources will be made available to ensure peace is restored in Laikipia and other parts of the country that continues to suffer insecurity.

"I want to challenge the criminals who think they have better weapons, tactics or instruments of violence than the government to dare face us," he said.

"We will follow them anywhere they are. We won't leave this area until we end this menace," he added.

Kindiki who toured Kitui, Laikipia, and Meru counties to discuss security issues urged pastoralists to respect host communities and their property.

"No one has the permission to graze their livestock wherever they want without the consent of the owners of those fields. All the grazers and herds people must leave this place before we get to them," Kindiki said as he ordered illegal herders to leave with immediate effect.

The directive follows recent flare-ups between armed herders and local farmers who accuse the pastoralists of deliberately driving camels and other livestock into farms and thereby destroying crops.

The CS said that a crack operation has been launched to back up the directive until the last herder is driven out.

The government has since ordered recruitment of additional national police Reservists in volatile areas and announced the deployment of specialized police units including the GSU, RDU, and ASTU in some parts of the country to combat cattle rustling and general insecurity.

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