DP William Ruto's directive on illegal firearms causes jitters

A pastoralist looks after his animals armed with an AK 47 in Katilu, Turkana South. The residents are reluctant to surrender firearms. [Photo: File]

Deputy President William Ruto's directive that all illegal firearms are registered and surrendered has made Julius Esinyen a very uncomfortable man.

Esinyen, 26, is still nursing gun wounds to his thigh and right hand. His hand can no longer lift anything after a bullet ripped through it.

According to the father of two, the order by the Deputy President last Wednesday could easily make communities in the banditry- prone area more vulnerable.

And he is not alone!

Emily Chebotib, a widow from Kasee village who lost her husband two years ago in a raid by suspected Turkana cattle rustlers, shares his sentiments.

She says she is more comfortable having some members of her community armed.

Esinyen is a resident of Kainuk town, Turkana County.

“They (armed warriors) help a lot. When the Turkanas attack they can repulse them. What would we do if they were not there?" poses Mrs Chebotib.

The locals' take on disarmament and the lack of resolve by the Government are two big challenges in the way tosanity and stability in the region.

Mr Ruto's order comes four months after Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaisery gave a 7-day ultimatum to the residents in the region to surrender illegal fire arms or face a forceful disarmament. It did not bear much success.

Months after the ultimatum, close to a hundred people have been killed in the volatile region that marks the boundaries between Turkana and West Pokot, Baringo and Samburu counties.

Two months ago, leaders from the cattle rustling and banditry-prone areas in the North Rift asked the Jubilee administration to establish a substantive ministry that would exclusively address the challenges that have adversely affected the region.

Speaking after a joint peace meeting in Eldoret, the leaders said a functional ministry should be urgently instituted because previous efforts and forums convened both regionally and nationally to curb the insecurity menace have not borne any fruit.