Former CS Issues Plea to President Ruto

Former Tourism Cabinet Secretary Peninah Malonza has urged President William Ruto to take action on the increasing rate of insecurity in Kitui County.
In a press briefing on Thursday, September 4, Malonza claimed that she has already had a phone conversation with the Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen and Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo regarding the insecurity issue in the county, especially in Kitui South.
According to Malonza, armed bandits have been terrorising the residents of this area by torching their houses and interrupting learning in various schools in the county, and according to Malonza, several people have even lost their lives following the attacks.
“I have already talked with CS Murkomen and also his PS on the insecurity in this area. When Deputy President Kithure Kindiki was the CS, he really helped security personnel in this area by giving them guns, but now the situation is worse, and action is needed from the administration,” Malonza said.
“People are being killed and houses are being torched, so this is a time when leaders from the county and National government need to work together and control the situation,” she added.
President Ruto and CS Murkomen have, in the past few months, been under heavy scrutiny following the rising cases of insecurity in different parts of the country.
Recently, several leaders from Mandera County urged the government to also take action, following the alleged presence of Jubaland forces in the county. The leaders claim that the presence of foreign forces in the regioncompromises the security and safety of the region.
However, in a press statement on Wednesday, August 4, Murkomen dismissed the allegations, stressing that the government suspects the said individuals are residents from Somalia fleeing to Kenya over insecurity in their country and not foreign forces.
Murkomen claimed that the government has launched investigations to clearly determine the identity of these individuals, and if they are determined to be foreign forces,security agencies will take action against them.
Murkomen assured that the government will also ensure that it works jointly with the government of Somalia to repatriate the individuals back to their country if they are found not to be foreign forces.
“We can not yet confirm whether people coming to Kenya from Somalia are civilians or forces; this will be done once we do a security analysis in the county. If we reach a stage where there is any challenge, we will tell the country, but at the moment we don’t have any difficulty,” Murkomen said.
“The complaints that have come from citizens have been looked at, and also, there is no school that has been occupied. If there is any part of the country where there is a spill of citizens, especially in Somalia, our security team will work on it to ensure that they return,” he added.