Kenya’s President William Ruto has ordered the army to join a security operation against armed bandits in the northern Rift Valley region who have killed dozens of people in recent months.
A government notice said the troops would be deployed to support the police from Wednesday.
H.E. Dr William Ruto, the president of the Republic of Kenya and Commander in Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces, has today ordered for joint security operations in the North Rift. https://t.co/z3I2WMAbPr pic.twitter.com/20A0bjLSDv
— Kenya Defence Forces (@kdfinfo) February 13, 2023
It came as the interior minister declared parts of six counties in the region as “disturbed and dangerous”, issuing a 30-day dusk to dawn curfew starting from Tuesday.
“The government has determined the security situation currently prevailing in the northern Rift Valley Region as a national emergency. Accordingly, painful and decisive measures must be taken effectively immediately,” Prof Kindiki Kithure said in a statement.
It ordered all people holding illegal guns and ammunition to hand them over to the authorities in three days or “meet the full force of the law”.
More than 100 civilians and 16 police officers have been killed by bandits in the past six months, according to the interior ministry.
The government has come under criticism for not doing enough to deal with the problem, even as the armed gunmen have recently become bolder, killing people and stealing livestock despite high-level security meetings in the areas.
Previous security operations have not deterred the armed bandits from carrying out attacks.