NAIROBI, Kenya Sep 11 – National Police Reservists (NPR) will escort teachers and learners as government steps up its efforts to restore learning in the troubled Ol Moran area of Laikipia.
This is in a bid to provide conducive environment for learning which paralyzed due to bandit attacks in the expansive Laikipia Nature Conservancy.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiangi gave the directive during the second day of his working tour in Ol Moran where he expressed optimism that the new security measures will restore order.
“I’m glad that there was no single incident was reported last night, and that is what we envision for our people. We have stepped up our presence here, and we have begun constructing the Ol-Moran Police Divisional Headquarters, and the basic feature of such a station is that it will have more than 100 police officers,” he said.
He stated that the reservists will be deployed in schools beginning Monday when learning resumes.
Frequent attacks on schools by the heavily armed and well-coordinated bandits had promped the closure of several schools in the area, forcing the government to activate a raft of measures to address the cycle of violence that has hit the area.
On Friday, the government announced plans to enhance police deployment in an effort to curb the cycle of violence.
Matiangi said a new police division will be established with enough officers to patrol the area adding that a training base for elite police units will be set up in the area to enhance police presence and serve as a buffer zone between Laikipia residents and invading herders from neighboring counties.
“We will bring our commandos to train in this area to deal ruthlessly with the bandits who are keen to disturb the peace in this area,” he said.
The Interior CS stated that two additional police stations will also be established in the flash point zones as the government continues its crackdown on illegal herders who have invaded private ranches in the area.
Matiangi urged Laikipia residents to observe the curfew in place to allow the security agencies carry out their duty of restoring peace even as he sounded a warning to perpetrators of violence.
“You are not going to use the lives of our people as collateral. This time around we won’t spare anyone who disturbs Wananchi. We are government and we will not allow this trend to continue,” he said.
He added that the government will use every means possible to ensure stability.
The government has blamed a section of leaders from the area for fueling the violence saying it was an apparent attempt to kick some communities out of the area as the country heads to the 2022 elections.
Matiangi said the conflict being witnessed in Laikipia was “beyond the pasture and drought issue,” suggesting some political leaders were behind the violence.
Laikipia was placed under a dusk-to-dawn curfew on August 30 after the National Security Council (NSC) declared the region a disturbed and a security operation area.
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