During the vetting of Interior Cabinet Secretary nominee Kithuri Kindiki in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Samburu West MP Naisula Lesuuda burst into tears as she reported fresh bandit attacks in Samburu.
Prof. Kindiki appeared before the 15-member Appointments Committee to be grilled for the position, and the legislator questioned his plan to end insecurity in the troubled Northern Kenya region.
“I constantly get the feeling that office holders responsible for matters of security don’t really, and are not willing to, comprehend the pain and loss caused by insecurity in the North. Cattle rustling is seen as a tradition and the people’s backward culture. Kindly let me put this into context, and I pray for God’s strength as I do this,” Ms. Lesuuda began.
The MP revealed that on Monday, while she was conducting the vetting process, she received a call informing her that criminals from Samburu West Constituency’s neighbour, Tiaty, ambushed herders, injuring one and driving away with cattle.
“This morning, they attacked again and as we speak they have killed one person, two are missing, one of whom is my staff, and they have stolen goods,” Lesuuda told the House.
“On a normal day as a leader, I would have dropped everything, including this assignment, and rushed to my constituency to condole, bury and have local security meetings. Then back to Nairobi, get an OP, a chopper, we go to security meetings, and then come back to Nairobi. Calm is restored, then retaliation attacks, most likely from my community, will take place, and the cycle continues,” she added.
Lesuuda questioned Kindiki about the government’s perceived indifference to insecurity in the North, referring to the picture she had painted as “the daily life of a typical pastoralist.”
“The only time as a country we behave shocked or surprised is when we lose our security personnel, and only when we lose more than two or three lives. When will one life be too much to lose in the northern parts of this country?” the legislator posed.
She then took the House back to the 2012 banditry incident in Suguta Valley, Baragoi, which killed 42 police officers.
“The only thing we have to show in Baragoi is a monument with the names of these fallen heroes,” she said.
“As a leader I don’t run away from my responsibilities and have been consistent and diligent but I am tired. I am honestly tired, and Kenyans are tired. What do you intend to do differently from your predecessors, away from the usual rhetoric and threats?” she posed before breaking down.
Lesuuda asked Prof. Kindiki’s plan in addressing insecurity saying, “Perhaps you need to come and live in Kurkur, Pura, Longewan and Losuk, incognito for only one week. What is your strategy or what are your thoughts to end this menace once and for all so that as a leader I can execute my duties and not concern myself with only matters of security?”
Prof. Kindiki, for his part, acknowledged the region’s security crisis, citing a lack of “operational capabilities” as one of the major challenges confronting security personnel in the region.
“I won’t share operational issues but lack of operational capabilities for our officers serving there is a problem, we need air and land mobility. We need to energise community policing in these regions for them to help officers to track criminals,” said Kindiki.
The CS nominee said he is determined to address the challenge through whatever sacrifices need to be made, noting that one of his main priorities was to weed out bandits.
“I am making whatever sacrifices that need to be made even if it means coming to live there. When bandits don’t fear the government, that culture permits it and challenges the legitimacy of the government. My number one assignment is to free this country from such criminal elements,” said the CS nominee.
“We will follow the law, respect the constitution, international human rights and treaties but we will still do the job, ruthlessness with criminals is matched with respect to human rights. We will do to criminals what needs to be done to them but, within the law,” added Kindiki.
