Tuesday February 14, 2023
Kenya’s President William Ruto has ordered the army to join a security operation against armed bandits in the northern Rift Valley region who have killed dozens of people in recent months.
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 determined the security situation currently prevailing in the northern Rift Valley Region as a national emergency. Accordingly, painful and decisive measures must be taken effectively 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.