CS: New border police stations to get extra officers

The government will in the next three weeks deploy police officers to the eight police stations constructed by the Kitui county government along the bandit-stricken border with Tana River County.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said this during an interview with media team at a Kitui hotel on Thursday on his Jukwaa la Usalama tour in Lower Eastern region.

He said that the deployment will bolster security and ensure that the facilities, which have remained unused for months, are fully functional and serve wananchi.

The CS lauded Governor Julius Malombe for putting up the police infrastructure, saying they will go a long way in enhancing security at the volatile border where hundreds of lives have been lost following clashes between Kitui farmers and Tana River pastoralists.

“As a ministry, we thank the county government for constructing the eight police stations. In three weeks, I will ensure that those stations are operationalised by staffing them with enough police officers,” Murkomen said.

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The CS further noted that the Ministry of Interior will work jointly with the county government to recruit rangers who will be tasked to patrol the expansive South Kitui and Mwingi North national game reserves.

These areas have long been used as havens by bandits to stage attacks.

“We are aware that armed bandits use the game reserves to engage in crime. In partnership with the county government, we shall recruit and train rangers who will be stationed in those places to boost security,” he said.

Following incessant attacks at the porous border, governor Malombe’s administration signed an MoU with the National Police Service aimed at seeking a long lasting peace at the volatile border that stretches from Kitui South to Mwingi North.

It is out of that agreement that the county government constructed the eight police stations.

CS Murkomen further pointed out that marginalisation contributes to insecurity, especially in rural areas and noted that President William Ruto’s government plans to roll out development projects in the marginalised regions to curb the wave of insecurity.

“Marginalisation creates a good breeding ground for insecurity. The real solution to that is only development,” the CS observed.

He at the same time allayed fears that the recent directive by President Ruto to abolish vetting for North Eastern residents during the acquisition of identity cards would open a floodgate for foreigners to register as Kenyans. He said that the government was on high alert to ensure that only Kenyans get the identity cards.

“Those who want to imagine that foreigners can come here and register as Kenyans and voters are just ignorant. It is impossible,” Murkomen declared.