Despite the noon blazing sun, he sat under a shrub reading the Bible a few metres from the shopping centre in Loyamoi village, Tirioko ward, Tiaty West sub-county.
His attire – a long trouser and a shirt – set him apart from his peers. The clothes were unusual in the far flung area where locals put on a shuka, a sheet wrapped around their waist, as is common in pastoralist communities.
He likened his existence to the mythical nine lives of a cat. That he was alive that day, he explained, was a miracle if not a puzzle, having been a bandit in the conflict-torn North Rift Valley for more than a decade.
Enock Pkemoi, 26, enrolled in school in 2004 at the age of nine and because there are few schools in the area, he attended Barpello Primary School, more than 30km away, and lived with a relative.
While he was in Standard Three, he said, his father summoned him home, claiming that he had an important issue to discuss with him. It took him two days to walk back home.
“He said my elder brother, who was herding livestock, had married and I was supposed to take the mantle from him. That is how I quit school and started herding animals,” he said.
Devastating drought
At the time, there was a devastating drought and herders had to drive their livestock further afield, even as far away as Kainuk in neighbouring Turkana County, in search of pasture and water.
That is when he had to learn to use a gun – an essential skill for a herder in the volatile region where cattle theft is common.
Herders, he said, would walk hundreds of kilometres despite the harsh weather and the rough terrain in search of water and pasture. That made him hardy and he grew accustomed to jungle life, because they would stay for several months away from home, until rains returned.
“Senior herders used to train us on how to use guns and the dos and don’ts of the battlefield, just in case the perceived enemy struck. In a short time, I turned into a sharpshooter,” he explained.
According to Julius Akeno, an author and a resident of Tiaty, bandits get their skills from herding, and boys as young as eight are given the responsibility of taking livestock further afield for long periods.
“Young boys in the Pokot community are separated from their mothers as early as eight years old and given the responsibility of looking after livestock. They normally go far away from their homes, for example, to Kapedo, Napeitom, Paka, Silale, Naudo Kapedo, Kasarani and the Ng’elecha hills, especially during dry seasons,” Mr Akeno said.
Young boys
“They were trained to be alert always, even when asleep. They were told to sleep with their eyes closed, but ears opened. No one should walk in unheard and find them asleep. It would be a mistake punishable by several lashes of the cane. The rough handling of young boys will make them hardy to prepare them for a tough life ahead,” says an excerpt from Mr Akeno’s book, Patrons of Wild Suguta Valley.
Pkemoi now graduated from herder to bandit, stealing animals in Baringo, West Pokot, Turkana and Elgeyo Marakwet, the risks notwithstanding. He stayed away from home from 2009 to 2012.
“I remember one time we raided a community in Kainuk, Turkana. There were more than 50 of us and everyone had a role to play, from those who could shoot and steal to others shielding the group or driving away the stolen livestock,” he said.
Three of his closest friends from the same village also joined him and were recruited as raiders. One of them was shot dead. “We took his gun and left the body to be eaten by hyenas. Of course we had no time to carry it home, hundreds of kilometres away, for burial. We later divided the livestock among ourselves and each took eight cows,” he narrated.
Despite the risks, they did it again some weeks later and drove away hundreds of goats, with each taking 15.
Before the raids, he said, they would receive blessings from ordained elders, who told them which routes they should use to avoid being cornered and whether the mission would be successful.
The elders, including seers and magicians, are highly respected in the Pokot community, owing to the roles they play.
Cattle rustlers, locals say, rely mostly on spies, who conduct surveillance in targeted areas before the actual attacks happen.
Due to an acute drought in 2018, all of his father’s livestock except two died. At the time, his girlfriend became pregnant and according to customary law, he had to pay fines.
“I stole a camel to settle the fine and I was caught. The family’s two remaining cows were stolen and we became paupers,” he said.
Makeshift church
“I had nothing to show for what I had stolen for a decade and everyone in the village knew me as a notorious bandit. After all of my friends were killed, I saw that I was next in line and I swore that I would never go back to banditry. Never.”
As he walked near his home on a Sunday morning, he heard Pastor Isaac Kaon, a missionary with the African Inland Church, preaching at a makeshift church, and he joined the congregation.
“The verse I remember was one saying, ‘God is my provider’. After the service, the cleric got hold of me and advised me to avoid bad company. He also allowed me to stay in his house, where I could get spiritual nourishment and counselling,” he said.
He became a staunch churchgoer, and in the process lost many friends in his village, who wondered why he was going against his community’s culture.
In January last year, with the help of missionaries in the area, Pkemei enrolled for theology studies school at Harbingers Bible and Missionary Training Institute in Eldoret.
This year, he was posted to Thika as a trainee pastor. He noted that he has discovered new places, interacted with other people and received new ideas.
“I learnt that there is life in the ‘outside world’. When I was a bandit, I had not even visited other towns, including my county headquarters, Kabarnet,” he said.
“Seeing many cars and how people lived used to amuse me. I am now a reformed person and I will never go back to my old ways. With mentorship from the missionary back home, three of my peers have followed suit.”
He is expected to complete theology school next year and vows to reach out to bandits in the bushes who are still killing and stealing from other communities.
“There is no gain in banditry,” the reformed bandit said. BY DAILY NATION