Nairobi — The Council of Governors Chairman Isaac Ruto says political leaders should treat the killings in Lamu as a criminal act and stop the blame game which could divide the country further and bring hostility between Kenyans.
Speaking during a press conference, the Bomet Governor underscored the need for thorough investigations to be undertaken so that the root cause of the killings can be determined and the perpetrators brought to book.
Ruto also pointed out that the government should involve communities at local levels in security matters in a bid to prevent any future occurrence of similar nature.
“We believe that this is a criminal activity and should be dealt with as a crime; it is actually a crime against humanity. Those people who perpetuated this should be treated as criminals and should be sorted out purely as criminals. Let us not start to heighten political temperatures in that particular area as this will bring further division. We need national cohesion,” he said.
He further explained that the political temperature in the country needs to be reduced as this could be a ticking time bomb that might destroy Kenyans.
“We are also asking for the lowering of the political temperatures but we are also making it clear that we would not want a situation where we create another cycle by blaming politics entirely. This can be misused to continue inciting people at the local levels. The moment you bring in politics then you bring in communities; you bring in this against the other and even camps against other camps,” he said.
He emphasised the need for a concerted effort between the National Government and the 47 county authorities to bolster security throughout the country and the fast tracking of the implementation of the County Policing Authority Bill.
“The involvement of counties is more likely to pre-empt such activities… there is something the locals can really do. They can know these people. They are capable of identifying these people who are plotting against them,” the Bomet Governor stated.
“Once these people start executing such evil intentions, nobody is safe. Even the locals are more concerned about their own security but as long as security looks like it is alien to the residents, that it is provided by someone else other than them getting involved, they will always be a missing link. They will always be crying helplessly and yet this is something we can do jointly,” he said.
“As County Governments, we are not going to micromanage the security response on the part of the government agencies themselves. We are asking them to move on in a manner they deem best. What we are saying is that we do not want the matter to be politicised. We do not want the politics that it is this camp verses that camp.”
He indicated that it is the responsibility of the government agencies to do investigations.
His sentiments were echoed by the Council’s Vice Chairman Salim Mvurya who stated that speculations should be set aside and proper investigations undertaken to identify their killers.
“Whichever way we look at it, people have lost lives and we need to deal with the situation as it is without necessarily beginning to imagine what has caused this. We need to strengthen our security in the country because the tourism sector has really been in a crisis whereby we have had job losses, a number of hotels have already been closed and advisories have been given. When I discussed with the foreign missions, the issue is that we only need to secure our country so that even when we are doing politics, we are doing so in a safe environment,” he said.
