Tension as renewed clashes in West Pokot leave boy, 13, dead

By Wilberforce Netya

A 13-year-old boy was yesterday shot dead by suspected Turkana raiders in West Pokot County.

The boy was killed when the raiders struck Orwa village and made away with unknown number of livestock in renewed clashes between the Turkana and Pokot communities.

The raiders attacked the village at around 3pm.  Orwa is along the Kapenguria-Lodwar Highway, near Kainuk. The attack has been linked to a standoff between the two communities that started last week when a group of Pokot youth allegedly held Turkana villages in a siege to protest rising insecurity along the border of the two communities.

Pokot Central OCPD said security personnel had mounted a manhunt for the raiders who had retreated back to the Turkana side.

“We are yet to establish the number of livestock stolen and we are pursuing the route they used in a bid to recover them,” he said.

West Pokot Deputy Governor, Titus Lotee, condemned the latest incident, saying it was a serious affront on the Pokot community.

“It is just the other day that they killed two people and left their bodies decomposing in the bushes and stole 50 heads of cattle which are yet to be recovered. Has the Government left us to the mercy of the Turkanas?” he posed.

Lotee said the two, a mechanic and a herder, were ambushed and shot.

 The mechanic was riding on a motorbike while the herder was taking care of livestock.

“When our youth barricade a village in protest without killing anyone, a whole operation is mounted against us. But when the Turkana kill our people, nothing happens. Where is fairness in all this?. This is selective application of the law!” he said. Following  the standoff and the recent killings, the Kapenguria-Lodwar Highway has remained a no-go-zone as armed militia continue to barricade the roads, paralysing transport. At the same time transport was paralyzed along the same highway as villagers protested the killing of their kin by assailants.

The decomposing body of a mechanic who went missing since Monday was found on Friday, prompting the demonstration near the disputed border.