Political leaders allied to the Kenya Kwanza coalition have taken on President Uhuru Kenyatta over insecurity in the North Rift, demanding that the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) be deployed to contain banditry.
The politicians, led by senators Moses Wetang’ula (Bungoma) and Aaron Cheruiyot (Kericho) and MPs Janet Siteinei (Turbo) and Caleb Kositany (Soy), called on the President to help restore peace in the trouble region as one more person was killed in a bandit attack in Baringo on Saturday, bringing to seven the number of people killed in just two days.
On Sunday, Senator Wetang’ula said the government had previously tabled a bill in Parliament to allow the deployment of armed forces to address insecurity.
He observed that for the past five months, the North Rift has reported insecurity-related deaths and the State should deploy more security to the region.
“When we had insecurity in Mandera and Kapedo, the government tabled a bill to allow the deployment of KDF, who helped to restore peace. We want to urge the government to move with speed and deploy the KDF to restore peace in the region,” said the Ford Kenya party leader.
He spoke on Sunday at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Osorongai, Turbo, Uasin Gishu County. He was with Uasin Gishu Woman Representative Gladys Shollei, Kiambaa MP John Njuguna and his Belgut counterpart Nelson Koech.
Ms Siteinei, the Turbo MP, urged the President to order the deployment of soldiers to the region: “It is really saddening that children and women are being killed by these bandits. We want to urge the President to deploy KDF to these areas so that they can tame insecurity in this region.”
Senator Cheruiyot and MP Kositany said security stops with the President, urging him to act.
Mr Cheruiyot added that the government must ensure that every Kenyan is protected.
“We cannot continue witnessing the killings of our fellow Kenyans due to banditry. As President, you cannot now sit pretty at the State House when Kenyans are dying in bandit attacks. In fact, I don’t understand why our KDF soldiers are deployed in Somalia when our country is witnessing a wave of insecurity,” the senator said.
Mr Kositany, on the other hand, said security had deteriorated and called for peace to be restored.
“Kenyans are suffering due to bandit attacks. The buck stops with the President and it is time for him to take charge of the security situation. We want all Kenyans to live in peace and harmony,” he said.
Meanwhile, the leaders decried the high cost of farm inputs such as fertiliser ahead of the planting season in the region.
“We know that President Kenyatta issued a directive that saw the allocation of Sh1 billion to coffee and a similar amount to tea and miraa,” Ms Sitienei said.
“We now demand that the government intervene and reduce the prices from Sh7,000 per 50kg to Sh2,500. We know that food security is a pillar of the Big Four agenda but we cannot attain this if fertiliser is out of reach for most farmers.” BY DAILY NATION