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Six killed as raiders seize security chiefs
Story by BERNARD KWALIA and PETER NG’ETICH
Publication Date: 4/3/2007
Armed gangsters held a DC and the entire district security team hostage for two hours as their colleagues went on a killing spree, which left six people dead in the trouble-hit Mt Elgon area.
Dr Daniel Alushila, the Medical Superintendent at the WebuyeDistrict Hospital, attends to Chemai Seddy Kirom who was shot in the leg by raiders at Kapsokwony in Mt Elgon District on Sunday night. Six people were killed and six seriously injured.
Photos/JARED NYATAYA |
The acting District Commissioner and senior police officers were held captive in their homes as the armed militiamen terrorised and butchered residents in a neighbouring house, only 600 metres way.
Sources said the Sabaot Land Defence Forces militiamen shot 20 times into the air, warning the senior Government officers that they were surrounded, and they should not attempt to respond or leave their houses.
The militiamen, armed with AK-47 rifles and machetes, invaded the officers’ homes at Kapsokwony Town at 9.30 pm, before killing the six people in the residential house. Several Government institutions are located in the town.
The gangsters accused their victims of being traitors in the six-month clan feud pitting two clans that are fighting over land at controversial Chebyuk Settlement Scheme. The clashes have left 140 people dead.
The militiamen held hostage area acting District Commissioner Julius Otieno, intelligence boss, a Mr Kazungu, Kapsokwony Officer Commanding Police Station, Mr Maurice Juma, Kapsokwony divisional officer Timothy Koech, and more than 40 other officers during their orgy of violence in which six people were seriously injured.
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The invaders, who also attacked an Administration Police line, were said to be wearing uniforms similar to those of security officers. After the killings, they fled to Keberwa forest, which is part of the larger Mt Elgon forest, while others ran towards the Kibuk area.
The gangsters also attacked other houses near a police station in the Sunday night raid.
A few months ago, the militia gave a number of conditions to the Government to implement before they could stop the attacks. The conditions included transfer of all senior provincial administrators and policemen from the district. They also called for the sacking of assistant minister John Serut.
Police have given names of three people they claim are the gang’s political leaders.
Kapsokwony town is a quiet settlement area and a former trading centre that was promoted into a district headquarters when Mt Elgon was made a district in 1990s.
Lying on top of a hill, the town is scarcely populated, with barely 5,000 people.
The town is about eight kilometres from Kimilili town in neighbouring Bungoma district, where most of civil servants who work in Mt Elgon live.
Apart from a few government institutions, including a police station, district headquarters, National Cereals and Produce Board stores and a district hospital, it has nothing much to write home about.
Shot dead
Those who were killed were identified as Kevin Kirong, 12, and Philip Kiprop, 14 both pupils of Cheptikit Academy.
Others were Juma Naibei Chumo, a teacher at the school, Ndiema Rongai, 70, and Komoi Cheloboi. The thugs also shot dead one of their colleagues who police identified as Robert Chemosit. The body of the thug was found at the banks of Kimilili River, 500 metres from the scene of the incident.
Those who were shot and seriously injured included Kelley Kiprop, 12, Dan Kiprop and Timothy Kiprotich, both 14, Zeddy Chemai, 15, Collins Kiprop, 22, and Alex Tenderesi, 30. They were admitted to Webuye sub-district hospital in critical condition. The bodies of the six were also moved to hospital’s mortuary.
The invaders knocked down five doors of rental houses adjacent to Kapsokwony high school and shot dead the six, according to survivor Jackline Chebet, 22 who talked to Nation.
She said the thugs threatened them with death if they did not reveal the whereabouts of some people, but somehow they were spared since the attackers appeared to target mainly men.
“Ten thugs entered the house while dressed in full police uniform and demanded that we give them the names of people we live with, accusing them of being traitors,” she said.
Kenya National Union of Teachers’ branch secretary, Mr Willy Maasai, accused the Government of not protecting Mt Elgon residents.
If the district headquarters is under siege, what will happen to the neighbouring area, Mr Maasai asked.
On a number of occasions, he has threatened to withdraw teachers from the troubled area, where more than 20 primary and secondary schools have been closed down due to the killings.
Meanwhile, more than 40 Rift Valley MPs will meet today to discuss the security crisis in Mt Elgon District.
The MPs, including ODM-Kenya presidential candidate William Ruto, said the Government had failed to protect the people and had decided to take up the issue to end the
deaths.
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Six more killed in Mt Elgon clashes
By Standard team
Tuesday April 3, 2007
Raiders killed six more people, among them a teacher and four pupils, in the strife-torn Mt Elgon area, even as President Kibaki directed security chiefs to act tough on crime.
Residents spoke of a chilling night after the raiders took over the area for about an hour in their house-to-house hunt for male residents.
Four other victims of the daring attack in Kapsokwony town, a kilometre from a police station, are fighting for their lives at the Webuye District and Lugulu Mission hospitals.
By Monday, residents were still in shock following the Sunday incident. They said the raiders, some in police uniform, had warned that they would be back.
More than 100 people have been killed, property worth millions of shillings destroyed and 27 schools closed due to the land skirmishes.
And speaking in Embakasi, Nairobi, at the passing out parade for Administration Police officers, Kibaki said the Government had doubled police recruitments to bolster security.
"Security agencies should ensure that those elements, who disrupt order and cause anxiety are identified and isolated from society," he added.
The Head of State said the Government had prioritised security in its planning in the wake of an upsurge in crime.
In the first ceremony to be officiated by the President, 1, 778 officers, including 311 women, graduated.
Raid appeared well coordinated
The President’s directive also comes against the backdrop of recent skirmishes between suspected members of the outlawed Mungiki sect and public transport operators in Kiambu and Thika.
A special unit formed on Thursday to quell the Mungiki menace said it was questioning more than 200 suspects.
The Mt Elgon violence, which has refused to go, remains on the spotlight, with leaders calling for action.
"It is sad that the killings continue despite the deployment of security personnel, " said Trade minister, Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, at a funeral in Sirisia.
The Kimili MP urged the clergy, elders and elected leaders to find a solution to the perennial clashes. ODM-Kenya presidential aspirant, Mr Musalia Mudavadi, asked area MP and Assistant minister, Mr John Serut, to resign from Government in protest.
"Kibaki should respond to the cries of the suffering people in Mt Elgon and beef up security," he said at rally at Obekayi in Amagoro, Teso District.
The daring raid on the district headquarters appeared well coordinated, with raiders taking control of the town and its environs for more than one hour. Local DC, Mr Julius Otieno and OCPD, Mr David Makokha, said security personnel had launched a manhunt for the attackers.
When The Standard team arrived in Kapsokwony on Monday morning, residents gathered in small groups as they recounted the incident in low tones.
They said the raiders struck a residential block behind Kapsokwany High School at about 9pm. In one room, they shot dead a teacher at Cheptikit Academy and two of his pupils, while in another room a 85-year-old man was butchered with a machete.
"They were ruthless … They broke into the houses and demanded that we produce our husbands," said Ms Jackline Chebet.
MPs set to meet to discuss the clashes
She said the thugs, some in police uniform, only demanded money from women but killed men.
"They were not in hurry as they terrorised everyone, shooting in the air — at times for an hour — until about 10pm," added the visibly shaken Chebet.
Ms Everlyne Kirong, 55, was mourning her son, Kelly Kirong, 12, a Standard Four pupil.
"I had told the boy to live with Mwalimu Juma …. They were both shot dead in cold blood," she said amid tears.
In the room where Kelly was killed, food littered the floor, with blood spluttered on books that lay on a table.
Another survivor, Ms Juliana Bere, said she and her husband, an assistant chief, escaped to a bush, where they spent the night. "They (raiders) warned that they will make another major attack in four days," added Bere.
Meanwhile, Rift Valley MPs are set to meet today to discuss the clashes. ODM-Kenya presidential aspirant, Mr William Ruto, and Eldoret East MP, Mr Joseph Lagat, said the leaders had taken it upon themselves to bring peace because the Government had failed.
"MPs and leaders from Rift Valley will meet to discuss the Mt Elgon crisis. We are taking the initiative because the Government has failed to contain continued killings," said Ruto at the weekend in Eldoret.
On Monday, the President underscored the importance of security in economic growth.
"No country can achieve economic growth if security is not assured. My Government is determined to provide adequate security so that there is a better environment for faster development," said Kibaki.
Besides increasing he number of regular police officers to 4,000, the president said their training had been enhanced.
Internal Security minister, Mr John Michuki, said the campaign to stamp out crime would continue.
Reports by Stephen Makabila, Alex Ndegwa and Cyrus Ombati
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