By J, KNA
A village elder from bandit prone area of Chemoe in Baringo North has urged the government to compensate cattle rustling and banditry victims in North Rift region even as they reimburse Gen Z protesters.
Richard Chepchomei maintained that victims of cattle rustling should be given first priority during the compensation since they were not at war with anybody but were only killed by marauding armed criminals for no apparent reason.
Speaking to KNA on phone, Chepchomei said unlike the Gen Z protesters killed during demonstrations against the contentious Finance Bill 2024, cattle rustling victims were killed, some maimed, their livestock stolen and others permanently displaced from their homes.
“There is a need for the government to compensate families of all those killed by bandits in the entire North Rift region. The families of those killed have undergone unbearable agony, their livelihoods completely destroyed apart from being uprooted from their homes, some who have never returned up to now,” stated Chepchomei.
At the same time, the village elder has commended the government through the Interior and National Administration Ministry for taking a decisive action to weed out criminal elements in Kerio Valley and Baringo North and South that has resulted in restoration of peace and order in the regions.
Mr Chepchomei while lauding Interior CS Kipchumba Murkomen for doing a good job asked him not to relent in his commitment to get rid of perpetrators of criminal activities for affected communities to enjoy peace and tranquility like other Kenyans.
He observed that restoration of peace and stability has seen families hitherto displaced from their homes return and were busy engaging in socio-economic activities aimed at rebuilding their lives.
The Jukwaa La Salama initiative spearheaded by the CS Murkomen has started to bear fruits especially in Kerio Valley where communities have started cultivating food and horticultural crops along the agriculturally fertile Kerio River basin which for years remained a go-no zone.