Rigoma MCA Ben Sironga has warned of a possible mass action to evict tax collectors allied to Kisii County in the controversial border town of Keroka.
The town has been at the centre of a dispute between Kisii and Nyamira Counties, with both claiming its ownership leading to ugly incidents in the recent weeks that saw tax collectors from either sides engage in fierce confrontations.
Speaking on Tuesday at Keroka, Sironga urged the tax collectors from Kisii county to bow out of the town in a week’s time or face forceful eviction by area residents.
“They have violated an agreement that we reached as leaders and now want to take total control of the town. The attempt is not only invalid but a violation of our rights as Nyamira people. We have used enough diplomacy and I think time has come for us to evict them,” he said.
Sironga said the diplomacy has failed and urged town residents to ‘chip’ in and defend their land from being occupied by ‘aliens’.
“Time has come for us to defend our territory now that diplomacy isn’t working. We must chip in and prevent people from occupying our land because we know the boundary very well. I have notified the tax collectors and hope they will comply. This is our territory and even the maps have sown that over and again,” he said.
He accused Kisii County leadership of deceit and said time had come for area residents to use mass movement to protect their territory.
“We had agreed as leaders to have Nyamira control 75 per cent, and Kisii 25 per cent, but our friends from Kisii are being dishonest. They want full control which we can’t allow,” he said.