It began with the recent raid on a village in Borabu, Nyamira County, by cattle rustlers keen on driving away animals from the kraals at night.
That was early November, 2024.
Today, it is an all-out sporadic night attack giving hundreds of dwellers in the vast constituency sleepless nights. Locals say the suspected thieves cross the communal borders to cause havoc.
Some animals have been traced by vigilantes into forested areas in the neighbouring Bomet County and Narok County.
Area Member of Parliament Patrick Osero now says the intensity of the raids was quickly spiraling out- like a fire in the harmattan.
“The fact that we no longer have adequate security officers on the ground to aid in trailing these thieves into their hideouts compounds the problem the more,” the legislator told journalists early Monday.
He was readying himself to attend a meeting in Laitigo area to calm restive villagers. The area which neighbours Bomet to the East has reported a string of night raids.
About 12 cows have been stolen in the last two weeks alone. There had been no recovery yet, the MP stated, clearly agitated by the turn of events.
“The rebounding effect on the local economy is obvious. My people also depend on milk which they sell to the local and national creameries to survive.
“With the theft intensifying the creameries may run out of business, it portends a catastrophic future,” MP Osero told the Star at his Kijauri residence.
The small of team of 20 Anti-Stock Theft Unit officers deployed to the volatile region is no match to address the the escalation of the thuggery.
“A significant number was redeployed from here to the border between Kericho and Homabay Counties during an escalation of similar cattle rustling incidents, they haven’t been sent back yet,” lamented Osero.
Efforts by the legislator to reach out to Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen are yet to bear fruits yet
“He is not picking my calls. I have even sent him photos showing cows stolen and hid inside forests in Bomet but he only blue ticks me ..it is lethargic,” the MP lamented.
Many of the locals say they may call for protests against the government following the inaction against the lawless bandits.
The rustlers often steal their way into the villages in the dead of the night terrorizing homeowners for hours before driving away livestock under the cover of darkness.
There had been reported deaths in the past during attempted fight backs by youth to ward off the marauders.
“Today we are calling on the national government to act with urgency. People are losing their livelihoods,” Osero lamented.
Despite repeated incidents there appear to be no concrete action insight yet from Murkomen to address the thuggery.
“People especially those living near the common borders are not sleeping, some are sleeping in turns to keep watch over their hard earned cows. We are reporting an area fractured by a fresh wave of a security challenge threatening the peace and economic stability of Borabu,” Osero stated.
He wants President William Ruto to intervene and order relevant security organs to scale up operations especially along the volatile Kisii-Nyamira-Narok border, which has become a hotspot for the vice.
Osero accused CS Murkomen of not picking his calls .
“I have tried severally to reach out to him in vain…he just blue ticks my WhatsApp texts,” Osero lamented.
Naftal Matoke ,a resident said they had been living in perpetual fear and have been forced had to form community watch groups to guard their animals.
“It is a primitive and old way to do things but we have to so that we can secure a future for ourselves,” Matoke told the Star.
He asked Murkomen to heed to the pressure from their MP to act.
“Personally I am hoping it will spur government action to protect out homes and herds from further attacks,” the farmer stated.
Separately, MP Osero claimed most of the cattle stolen are stashed inside the Bomet forests and later removed and sold in the nearby markets.
“These are government forests but are not protected by the forest guards. This makes them easier hideouts for the thieves. We urge the government to deploy forest guards, they may be an additional measure to the long term efforts to tame this menace,” he stated.
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