NAKURU, Kenya, Jun 29- Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i on Wednesday led senior security chiefs to Bahati in Nakuru County and promised a swift end to terror gangs spreading panic in the constituency.
The CS who was accompanied by the Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai, the Director of Criminal Intelligence George Kinoti and the General Service Unit Douglas Kanja among others also announced an overhaul of the security team in the county.
Immediate Kasarani Division police boss Peter Mwanzo is the new Nakuru County Police Commander and replaces Beatrice Kiraguri in the changes that the CS said are meant to shore up security for a region with a history of election-related security upheavals.
The CS ordered the security teams that were deployed to the area last week to specifically ensure the ongoing operation in Mawanga area is sustained and the gangs blamed for the recent killing of three people eliminated.
“Our aim as the government is to wipe out those people from here completely. We won’t surrender any part of our lives to such thugs,” he said during a public baraza.
The CS who also met some of the families of the victims of the ‘Confirm’ gang that is blamed for the wave of terror promised the deployment of enough resources to uproot the criminal structure and operations.
He said this will also serve as a lesson to other outlaw groups that have sprung up around the election season.
“No criminal will test the resolve of the government. We have been given enough resources by our president, and we will deploy unprecedented fire and force in this case,” he said.
He said the crackdown will be extended to politicians and other leaders financing and patronizing terror gangs after intelligence reports linked area politicians to gangs’ activities and the conducting of oathing and other suspect rituals by gang members.
“We won’t distinguish between those who habour them, their financiers, and their sympathisers. We will treat them equally and handle them as criminals,” he said.
Earlier on, the CS met religious and community leaders, who raised concerns over politicians using informal security groups to spread fear among the people with the hope of influencing the outcome of the elections.
The leaders appealed for more labour-intensive engagements for the youth such as Kazi Mtaani saying this will deny politicians and other opportunists idle groups that can be incited to commit crimes.
Dr. Matiang’i announced that all area chiefs and assistant chiefs will be appraised afresh to weed out those who are sympathetic to illegal groupings and those who fail to promote peace in their jurisdictions.
He directed County Commissioners to step up engagement with members of the public at the grassroots and advance information-sharing with security agencies.
On election security preparedness, Dr. Matiang’i announced that leaves for all security officers in the country have been suspended until after the August polls.
The CS also launched the issuance of title deeds to residents as part of President Kenyatta’s land titling programme.
He directed County Commissioners and their assistants to work closely with the Ministry of Lands field officers to expedite the issuance of the remaining documents to members of the public.
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