Policemen Withdrawn After Bandits Attack Kitui Station

UNDER ATTACK: The defaced Kona Kaliti Police Station in South Kitui Game reserve. Kitui county commissioner said on Friday that thousands of herders who have encroached into the South Kitui National Reserve will be flashed out....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Security officers guarding upcoming Kona Kaliti police station within the game reserve have been withdrawn following days of attacks by armed camel herders.

Speaking on Friday, Kipchumba Rutto said the officers guarding the police installation were withdrawn for their safety.

Ruto said that, on Thursday evening, a gang of herders ambushed and pelted a police convoy that was headed to Kona Kaliti with stones. They were on a mission to reinforce security in the area.

The county commissioner added that the criminals raided the police station, subdued the few officers who were guarding the unfinished station block and defaced it.

“The goons altered the writing that indicated that the project was being funded by the county government of Kitui and instead wrote that it was a project by the county government of Tana River,” Rutto said.

Earlier on, hundreds of camel herders invaded the Kalalani Kenya Wildlife Service camp, still in the game reserve, and chased away all the officers before occupying the place.

ACTION: Kitui county commissioner Kipchumba Rutto addresses the media in his office on Friday, September 27, 2024.

According to a police incident report, raiders broke down and carted away toilet doors and movable items, among them, solar panels and batteries.

“Police will not use force but we have to get the invaders out of the games reserve. A special force will be deployed in the areas and will use humane means to load the invaders into lorries and take them back to where they came from,” Rutto said.

The administrator claimed without giving evidence that political leaders from Tana River county had incited Tana River residents to move into the game reserve with an expansionist agenda.

“We have audio and video clips of Tana River leaders inciting residents of Tana River to move into Kitui and occupy the land. Some of the leaders’ utterances are clearly inciting and have been shared with NCIC (National Cohesion and Integration Commission),” Rutto added.

Leaders from Tana River and Kitui counties have in the past held a meeting with the Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo to find a lasting solution to frequent skirmishes…CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES>>>