PS Omollo: North Rift peace needs more than security operations
Interior PS Raymond Omollo says ending banditry in the North Rift needs reconciliation, services and jobs as well as security operations. He says two operations have recovered more than 2,600 illegal firearms and over 17,000 head of livestock.
Raymond Omollo, Principal Secretary for Internal Security and National Administration, has said that security operations alone will not end banditry in the North Rift and the northern frontier counties. He made the case in an opinion article published on Sunday, Ghafla Kenya reported. He wrote that lasting peace also requires reconciliation, essential services and economic development. Omollo said the persistence of banditry shows the limits of action that only disrupts violence. He said raids can be stopped, livestock recovered and guns seized. But violence returns, he said, when criminal networks stay profitable, when communities compete over water and pasture, and when old grievances go unresolved. He cited Operation Maliza Uhalifu, launched in February 2023, and disarmament under Operation Rudisha Bunduki. According to Omollo, the two operations have recovered more than 2,600 illegal firearms and over 17,000 head of livestock. He said the government has spent more than KSh 4.2 billion on security roads and infrastructure. That work has built or improved over 520 kilometres of roads. He also pointed to classrooms at Ngarachi Comprehensive School rehabilitated by Kenya Defence Forces engineers and their partners. To hold on to these gains, Omollo said, authorities…
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