KALOKOL- Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai has expressed support for the joint military and police operation to combat rampant banditry in the North Rift.
Speaking during the burial of Peter Loboyel Erus, the father to Deputy Governor Dr John Erus in Kalokol, the Governor expressed his gratitude to the National Government for heeding calls to crack down on banditry following the recent increase in attacks.
However, the Governor cautioned against unfair implementation of the disarmament directive warning that past skewed operations had left residents of Turkana living in hotspots more vulnerable to attacks.
He said: “I advise CS Kindiki to ensure that the security operation does not deviate from the original mission to go after bandits who murdered innocent residents of Turkana and police officers. We must guard against disarmament which affects one community like what we have witnessed before.”
In his speech, Governor Lomorukai called on the security forces to focus on going after the bandits and ensuring that the disarmament drive was enforced equally across the region.
He also condemned leaders from West Pokot including Pokot South MP David Pkosing, who have been accused of financing banditry to advance their political ambitions.
The Governor proposed the deployment of a combination of National Police Reservists and police officers to tackle the runaway insecurity.
Governor Lomorukai also stressed the need to end dependency on relief food and announced an ambitious food security plan by the County Government targeting the production of food for consumption by residents.
“We will come to all sub-counties to engage residents to allocate land for crop production. We must target at least 200,000 bags of maize which the County Government will buy from the farmers. We want residents of Turkana to get out from reliance on relief,” he said.
He assured residents of Kalokol that the county had procured relief food for the region and will be distributed once delivered.
The Governor promised to continue monitoring relief distribution to ensure residents get their rightful share. He also thanked the residents of Kalokol for supporting him in the last elections and reiterated his commitment to work with all elected leaders regardless of their party affiliations.
He assured residents that he was committed to addressing numerous challenges facing the area, including providing solutions to the water shortage.
The Governor agreed with Turkana Central MP Emathe Namuar on the need to increase the allocation to the skills development fund and amendments to the act to provide support to students pursuing rare skills.
MP Namuar stated that he had his office had allocated Sh25million for bursary and had supported 250 students joining Form One through purchase schools requirements. He promised to adhere to fairness in bursary allocation.
The burial of Mzee Erus was attended by leaders, including a host of MCAs led by Leader of Minority Samuel Lomodo and area MCA Michael Epem.
Senior County officials present included County Executives Leah Audan (Education), Elizabeth Loote (Trade) and David Erukudi (Agriculture, Livestock Development and Fisheries).
Others were Chief Officers Peter Lomorukai (Preventive and Promotive Health) and Janerose Tioko (Agriculture); Chief of Staff Peter Yoromoe and Advisors Malachy Ekal (Political) and Ekiru Tulele (Legal).
Via (Governor’s Press Service)
