Caption: Kitui County Commissioner Boaz Cherutich. He has warned politicians in Kitui and Tana River counties against inciting inter-community clashes. (Tom Waita/hivisasa.com)
Kitui Commissioner Boaz Cherutich has sternly warned leaders against inciting inter-community clashes along the Kitui - Tana River border.
Speaking in Kitui Town on Friday, the administrator said politicians found making instigative utterances which might fuel the fading clashes between Kambas and Somali nomads will be met with the full force of the law.
The conflicts have claimed nine lives since December last year, leading to a high-voltage security operation commissioned by Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery last month.
Mr Cherutich said security officers deployed to restore normalcy in the area have so far managed to quell the deadly violence attributed to armed Somali bandits who have encroached Kitui while masquerading as camel herders.
He added that three suspects have been apprehended following a crackdown on the suspected killers and illegal firearms.
He said the suspects have been charged in court while two AK-47 rifles were recovered alongside several rounds of ammunition.
“Beginning today going forward, any politician found inciting the two communities against each other will be dealt with accordingly. They will be arrested and prosecuted for threatening peace and inciting violence because nobody is above the law.
“As we move towards the August polls, we expect all politicians to respect the rule of law and conduct themselves in a manner that promotes peace and national cohesion so as to forestall violent confrontations amongst peace-loving Kenyans,” Cherutich warned.
Basically, the deadly skirmishes resulted from fight for diminishing water and pasture following a lengthy dry spell that has also gripped other parts of the country, according to the county commissioner.
“To restore peace and ensure coexistence between the two communities, we have resolved to flush out the herdsmen together with their camels from Kitui,” Mr. Cherutich said.
He, however, warned Kenyans, especially pastoralists, against using the current drought situation as an excuse to wreak havoc in the name of fighting for their survival as well as that of their animals.
“We expect pastoralists moving to new areas in search of water and pasture to have prior dialogue and peaceful negotiations with the native communities with a view to agreeing on how they can accommodate each other,” he said.
This comes barely two months after Mwingi Central MP Joe Mutambu and his Bura counterpart Ali Wario alleged drew guns on each other at Mwanzele centre in Mwingi East after they hotly differed over the Kitui – Tana River border.
The legislators have reportedly been feuding over two polling stations in Mwanzele and Enyali areas which lie at the volatile border.