Hope as calm returns to North Rift

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For decades, bandits had invaded the vast and rough terrain in the North Rift, daring the successful government interventions that claimed lives and displaced communities.

Some parts of the counties of Samburu, Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Turkana, Laikipia, and West Pokot had become battlefields where bandits raid livestock, leaving a trail of blood and other destruction.

But for the past six months, calm has been relatively stable in the area among locals, and security experts attribute this to the ongoing security operation dubbed Operation Maliza Uhalifu, with a command station at Chemolingot in Tiaty, Baringo County.

The operation involves a multi-agency approach, bringing together the police and military in a concerted effort to restore peace and security following a spate of attacks.

Richard Chepchomei, a resident of Chemoi in Baringo North, said that the calmness was due to the seriousness of the ongoing operation.

Chepchomei claimed that the forceful disarmament and the non-involvement of political leaders have contributed to the success.

“With these efforts, illegal firearms will be eliminated, the intensified operation has been successful, and we hope they will continue in ensuring that peace is achieved,” he said.

According to the Baringo Human Rights Defender, Isaiah Biwott, banditry was propagated by businessmen who deal with livestock, protected by politicians and senior security officers.

He said that cattle raiding was traditionally practiced among pastoralist communities but has transformed into a dangerous, highly organised criminal enterprise fueled by the easy accessibility of firearms smuggled within the porous borders and a complex web of socio-economic factors.

Biwott added that businessmen took advantage of the instability in the area to thrive, and would coordinate and want a monopoly on the businesses.

“When the Special Operations Group became part of the operation had intelligence, names, and the locals of the firearm owners; politicians were silenced, making it difficult to compromise the team,” Biwott said.

KDF has also participated in organising football tournaments among conflicting communities and in helping rebuild schools that bandits vandalised. 

The multi-agency security team has also supported development projects aimed at enhancing economic growth, collaborating with the church and local leaders.

Leaders and residents celebrate the relative calm in the region. Still, some have expressed reservations about its militarization, fearing it could backfire in the long run and alienate local communities from government forces, whom they might see as enemies.

 During the 2022 campaigns, President William Ruto promised to end banditry and bring sanity to the region known as a valley of death, as locals live in agony

Security expert Prof Erick Bor of Egerton University said that following the disarmament, the government should do structural peacebuilding.

“This is by restoring the livelihood to stabilise the conflict by focusing on income-generating activities, to avoid them returning to the same livelihood in earning a living," Bore said.

Rift Valley Regional Commissioner Abdi Hassan said the government is committed to a long-term presence in the region and that a sustained effort is crucial to achieving lasting peace.

Hassan noted that insecurity in the North Rift will end, as they will not relent in fighting banditry to ensure peace.

“So far, we have made tremendous progress, and there is unprecedented peace. We urged those who left their homes in Saimo Soi and Baringo South to return,” the regional boss said.

The regional boss said the disarmament exercise has been successful, with over 1,000 firearms recovered from the region.

He insisted that the state wasn’t targeting any community but criminals.

“We have set up operation camps at Meisori and Moinoni, in Baringo, as measures to enhance security in the area, and created several administrative units to bring services closer to the people,” he said.

 He appealed to the leaders and locals to help and support the government in achieving peace in the region.

“The government has several socio-economic programmes, such as the opening of security roads, planning for complex educational centres, and other development programmes in uplifting the status of the people in abandoning banditry, which will come after securing the area fully,” he added.