Kenya to deploy army as bandits kill over 100

Kenya's President, William Ruto, has taken his biggest security decision on the domestic front since taking office about five months ago, by ordering the military to join the police in tackling bandits and cattle rustlers in a restive northern region.

A government notice said the troops would be deployed to support the police from Wednesday.

It came as the interior minister declared parts of six counties in the region as “disturbed and dangerous”, issuing a 30-day dusk to dawn curfew starting from Tuesday.

“The government has declared the security situation currently prevailing in the northern Rift Valley Region as a national emergency.

Accordingly, painful and decisive measures must be taken effective immediately,” Prof. Kindiki Kithure said in a statement.

It ordered all people holding illegal guns and ammunition to hand them over to the authorities in three days or “meet the full force of the law”.

More than 100 civilians and 16 police officers have been killed by bandits in the past six months, according to the interior ministry.

The government has come under criticism for not doing enough to deal with the problem, even as the armed gunmen have recently become bolder, killing people and stealing livestock despite high-level security meetings in the areas.

Previous security operations have not deterred the armed bandits from carrying out attacks.

Attempts by previous administrations to disarm the heavily-armed bandits operating with impunity in Turkana county have failed.

Thousands of cattle are stolen every month and driven hundreds of kilometres away for slaughter for sale in the local or international market.

—BBC