Kisumu County Commissioner Erastus Ekidor has said that perennial cattle rustling in Kisumu County has gone high.
According to Ekidor Nyakach, Nyando and Muhoroni areas which border Kericho and Nandi Counties rate highest in terms of the security challenges they have had to deal with over the last few months.
Speaking in Kisumu on Thursday Ekidor told a peace and security forum that apart from cattle theft border disputes, land issues also posed a headache to security apparatus.
He added that party politics and non-tolerance of divergent views and positions taken by loyalists sometimes spilled out of control forcing security agencies to intervene in order to restore law and order.
The County Commissioner pointed out availability of illicit firearms as a major concern, especially after an AK47 Rifle was recovered last week with a suspect believed to have been among the gang terrorizing local residents.
Ekidor who was accompanied by Peace Building and Conflict Management, Senior Assistant Secretary, Ahmed Biko said there was clan rivalry between Kano, Kisumo and Kajulu communities and non-indigenous people perceived to be ‘outsiders’ (Oluwo Reru) fighting to have control over the County’s resources.
However, the County Commissioner commended security apparatus for their persistence that saw the obliteration of the dreaded gangs like Baghdad boys, American Marines and the China Squad whose fights degenerated into total war spurred on by their respective godfathers.
“Luckily, after the 2007/08 violence, the dreaded gangs have since died down, but security apparatus must remain vigilant, especially in 2016 as Kenya approaches the 2017 General Elections,” notes Ekidor.
Ekidor said cattle rustling in Nyakach, Muhoroni and Nyando at the border with Kericho and Nandi have been curbed to a large extent, but noted that they must stay alert, considering that such tribal conflicts culminated in houses being torched, cane plantations razed and residents killed.
He also singled out the Constitutional Referendum fever of 2010 for having raised local communities’ passion as well as tension during the run-up to the Yes and No campaigns, when politicians engaged the services of the dreaded gangs and took advantage of boundary conflicts.
The forum saw the launch of Kisumu County Peace Forum with participants calling on the County Government to help fund the Sub-County forums instead of hoping that some donors would come forth and bail them out.