A member of the National Assembly from Turkana County has said setting up military bases in the County will help end perennial cattle rustling and insecurity in the area.
Turkana West MP Daniel Epuyo said the county leadership and residents donated land amounting to 9,000 hectares to the military for the bases but the military is yet to move in.
“One of those areas where we donated land for military bases is in Napeitom and Kapedo which are prone to banditry,” said Epuyo.
Epuyo said his constituents and leaders from Turkana West donated 2,000 hecaters of land in Napakim and Loreng intended as a buffer zone to guard against attacks by bandits from neighbouring countries but added the military is yet to drill boreholes or construct roads in the area.
He said the military has been citing budgetary constraints for the delays in setting up in the county.
The County Government and the Ministry of Defense in April this year signed a Framework Agreement for the allocation of land for military use in the region.
The then governor Josphat Nanok and Defense Principal Secretary Ibrahim Mohamed signed the pact that will see allocation of 9,000 Ha, to set up military bases across Turkana.
The parcels of land include 2,000Ha in Kanamkemer, 1,000Ha each in Kaputir, Kapedo/Napeitom, Lapur, Kibish, Lokichoggio, Nanam, and Letea Wards and an additional 50,000Ha reserved by community for access by military for training purposes when need arise in Kapedo/Napeitom Ward.
At the same time, the MP who is serving his third term in parliament said leaders are involved in cattle rustling which has grown into an illegal enterprise and called on the security agencies to deal firmly with the perpetrators of the crime.
According to the MP, cattle rustling has grown from a historical and cultural rite of passage to an organized crime involving buying of guns and bullets as well as selling of the stolen livestock.
He expressed optimism that the Ruto administration will be able to deal with the crime owing to good will from the head of state.
Epuyo blamed marginalization of the Kerio Valley area for the conflict. “Illiteracy among the children makes them vulnerable to rich men who are eyeing natural resources in the region,” he said.
Meanwhile, Turkana South MP James Lomenen has asked security agencies to be vigilant and ensure that perpetrators of last week’s Kamuge attack that claimed the lives of eight police officers, a chief and two civilians do not cross into Uganda.
He said the has been a pattern in the past where those behind the crimes flee into Uganda leaving innocent civilians to bear the wrath of the security operation.
