MARSABIT– The ongoing security operation in Marsabit will continue until at least 5,000 of the estimated guns in illegal hands in the County are retrieved.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i said although the multi agency team deployed last month had restored peace in the vast county, the mopping of illegal weapons must be concluded as a long term security strategy.

He revealed that just over 200 guns, around 3,000 ammunitions, a grenade and assorted bayonets have been surrendered/recovered under Operation Rejesha Amani.

“We believe from intelligence and the information we have that there are more guns than the ones that we have collected. We need to recover more guns, we will review this operation when we have around 3000 or so guns because we believe there are still many more guns in wrong hands,” he said.

The CS expressed frustrations that a former military officer who is a key suspect in the trafficking of illegal weapons in Marsabit had been set free by a court but vowed that the Government will appeal the decision.

“I’m very disappointed about how that individual was released through the justice system in a manner that is not impressive to us. We are going back to court to appeal because we have sufficient evidence to incriminate that individual in activities that he has been doing,” he said.

He further said the curfew that was extended for 30 days last week will be in place until after the August 9, General Election.

The extension is intended to facilitate the operation to stabilize a county that has been a theatre of bloody conflicts that have claimed hundreds of lives over the years.

He said: “We will stay on this assignment until this place remains peaceful. We have made assurances that we will not end the operation until after the general elections because we want this place to be peaceful during the campaigns, during the elections and even after the general elections.”

The CS was speaking after a surprise visit to officers from the multiagency team at the KBC RDU Camp in Marsabit.

The officers are drawn from specialised units including the General Service Unit (GSU), Anti Stock Theft Unit (ASTU), Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) and others.

He hailed the deployment of the security team saying it had succeeded in stopping bloody ethnic conflicts that have ravaged the county.

“Since the deployment of this team, we’ve not had a single security incident in Marsabit. We are very proud of the team for what it has achieved so far. Life has gone back to normal and Marsabit residents are now able to go on with their businesses,” the CS said.

Responding to pleas from Marsabit residents to reduce curfew hours, the CS who extensively toured the town promised that a review will be undertaken in three weeks.

The CS blamed incompetent and partisan chiefs for abetting ethnic conflict and crime in the county and ordered that they be vetted for suitability to office and mandatory retraining of those will pass the test.

“We have taken a decision to do 100% review of the administrative infrastructure in Marsabit because there are very fundamental weaknesses.

We have challenges with the deployment of our chiefs and assistant chiefs. So, we will review all these and retrain all chiefs and assistant chiefs in Marsabit.”

The CS also directed that all the vacant slots for chiefs and their assistants be immediately advertised and filled up to complement security operations in the country.

Serving chiefs will also undergo specialized training tailored for unique security challenges in the county and to adequately prepare them to combat Female Genital Mutilation, gender violence and teenage marriages.

The CS who was accompanied by the Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai and senior security and administration chiefs warned that the government will crack hard on politicians fuelling conflicts in Marsabit under the guise of campaigning for August elections.

On the raging drought in large parts of the county, the CS said the government had enough food in its reserves and will upscale the distribution of both food and water.

“We don’t want any of our citizens dying of hunger or thirst. The County Commissioner and his team will immediately undertake a census on deserving relief food recipients for necessary action” the CS said.