Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki has stated that he will name those who profit from the ongoing banditry in Northern Kenya.
Kindiki on Sunday said that information gathered during the National Police Service (NPS) and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) three-week joint operation in the banditry-prone region has linked a number of leaders to the crime.
According to the CS, intelligence has identified the “senior commanders, spiritual leaders, political patrons and the commercial beneficiaries” working with the bandits.
A spiritual leader “who has been offering prophetic support” to the bandits has been captured, Kindiki said, adding that he will soon reveal the identities of the aforementioned people.
“In a short while, we shall be circulating the names and photographs of these dark pillars of the evil network that is banditry,” said Kindiki.
Kindiki asserted that as a result of the crackdown, security services had evaluated the terrain and determined which “gaps to seal” without endangering the locals.
“The Government has conclusively identified the survival lifeblood that must now be cut to neutralize banditry for good. This vice has been supported all along by a toxic mix of bad terrain, weapon supply and banditry leadership,” he added.
In the last seven months, at least 135 Kenyans have been killed.
This week alone, the CS added, nearly 12 Kenyans have been killed in Malaso, Pura and Kur Kur areas while 6 others have been murdered in Tot, Elgeyo Marakwet County.
“During the same period, dozens of schools have been closed, thousands of families displaced, and public amenities and infrastructure destroyed by these criminal gangs,” he said.
The bandits have been terrorising Baringo, Laikipia, Samburu, Turkana, West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet residents.
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