A section of Baringo leaders have come out to hit at Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i terming him a pretender, hypocrite and a complete embarrassment who should resign with an immediate effect.
Speaking on Wednesday at Mochongoi in Baringo county, the leaders led by Mochongoi Ward MCA Kipruto Kimosop accused Matiang’i of turning a deaf hear on the insecurity situation in Baringo that is already running out of control.
Kimosop accused Matiang’i of disarming the Kenya Police Reservists KPR that were guarding the region saying that due to the exercise, the locals are now armless and can’t defend themselves against the bandits.
The leaders said they felt cheated by the government after momentarily withdrawing guns from the reservists promising to return them after a disarmament exercise in the region but to date, the guns have not been returned back to.
“We have a situation whereby Matiang’i has exposed an entire community to attacks which are persistent. We have repeated this for long over the media and I think it is a high time we tell the country that we are really embarrassed with the Government that we campaigned for since it has failed to deal with insecurity in parts of Baringo South.” posed Kimosop
“Matiang’i has proved to be a proper embarrassment. We can now confirm to the country that the stern Matiang’i we used to know is now just a pretender, a hypocrite and an embarrassment that should actually resign.” Added an agitated MCA
He also called on the entire cabinet to meet and discuss the possibility of de-linking Matiang’i with being the Super-Cabinet secretary. The leaders decried their security saying the CS had disarmed the entire North Rift Region which includes Samburu, Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet.
They also linked the recent kidnappings and the killings of a former MCA and a teacher from Elgeyo Marakwet to the rising insecurity due to the disarmament of the KPR officers who had been beefing up security in North Rift.
The same complaints had earlier on been made by other Baringo leaders in parliament.The leaders led by Baringo South MP Charles Kamuren had said banditry had increased in Baringo making people live in fear and schools being closed.
“For the last three days, Baringo North and South have been attacked by bandits from Tiaty constituency. What prompted this attack is as a result of gun withdrawal from the National Police Reservists who have been defending our people. Those bandits are well armed, yet we do not have guns in Baringo North and South,” said Kamuren in May.
The leader’s plea comes at a time when Elgeyo Marakwet Senator Kipchumba Murkomen together with his Kapseret MP Oscar Sudi had also turned the heat on Interior CS Fred Matiang’i and PS Karanja Kibicho for allegedly doing nothing about extrajudicial killings currently being experienced in the North Rift Region.
“I want to tell Kibicho and Matiang’i that the Kanu era ended long ago. We are burying our people who have been killed by people known to security agents and they want to cheat us that the same police officers can investigate such cases.” said Sudi on Saturday,