Newly installed North Rift Regional Commissioner George Natembeya has sounded a warning to chiefs not doing enough to eradicate the vice of cattle rustling.
Speaking in West Pokot on Monday, the tough-talking regional commissioner said that it was time for the local administrators to play an active role in combating the menace.
"If there are cattle rustlers in your area, you and the government cannot move on the same path. (Kama kuna wezi wa mifugo kwa area yako, wewe na serikali hamuwezi enda njia moja.), " the regional commissioner fired.
Natembeya's stern warning comes amid multi-pronged efforts aimed at ridding the North Rift region of the twin scourge of banditry and cattle rustling.
It also comes in the wake of a historic peace deal between warring communities in the region signed with the aim of restoring normalcy.
Leaders in the region have long vouched for diplomacy as a way of bringing about peace.
When he assumed the North Rift regional commissioner job, Mr Natembeya said that the major part of his focus would be dealing with the lawlessness caused by cattle rustling and banditry.
Successive governments, from independence, have battled with the problem without nothing much to show it in the way of peace dividends.