Armed cattle rustlers continue attacks in north Kenya
April 16, 2006 (NAIROBI) — Tension continued to mount in northern Kenya as armed bandits raided another manyatta homestead, and stole 28 cows in Sololo area of Moyale District.
This comes just three days after the burial of three MPs who perished on a peace mission to Marsabit.
The raiders, who attacked a Gabra manyatta, were believed to have come from another part of the same district.
The raiders struck just a day after other attackers, believed to have crossed from Ethiopia, stole about 3,000 animals in the same area.
Moyale officer commanding police division, Hesbon Kadenge, said the attackers struck at about 3 p.m. local time on Friday 14 April.
Kadenge, confirming the incident to The Sunday Standard, said a contingent of police officers was dispatched to the village that borders Ethiopia.
No injuries were reported on villagers who were said to have fled when the attackers were detected.
The police chief at the same time appealed to the area residents to abstain from cattle rustling and other criminal activity, adding that the government is not going to spare the perpetrators.
President Kibaki, while in Marsabit last Wednesday, ordered a crackdown on criminals in the area who have been terrorising residents for decades.
Cattle rustling and sporadic raids characterize the districts of Moyale and Marsabit, whose MPs perished in the Monday crash while on a peace mission.
(The Standard)