Gov't reviews list of bandit-infested areas residents must vacate by Tuesday

The Government on Monday, March 13 revised the areas where residents will be expected to vacate with immediate effect, as they are hideouts for bandits in North Rift region.

In a statement from Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki, government removed Kapelbok, Nakwamoru, Lobokat, Lokoron, the Turkwell Escarpment and Ombollion areas within Turkana and West Pokot Counties from the areas that residents need to vacate immediately.

Members of the public are advised to continue with their daily activities, but in adherence to an ongoing security operation - carried jointly by the police and military - that started on February 13 this year.

Additional bandits hideouts

However, the Ministry has added additional areas to the list of hideouts that habour dangerously armed criminals, therefore rdering residents to vacate them within 24 hours starting Monday, March 13 at 7:30pm.

These added areas are; Ng’elecha Hills and Gorges, Ramacha and Losokoni Caves, Laramoru Gorges, Karau Hills, Noosidan Escarpment, Rugus Caves and the Amaya Gorges at the interface of Baringo, Laikipia and Samburu Counties.

"Any member of the public found in the [aforementioned] spaces... after Tuesday 14th March 2023 1930 HOURS will be treated as a suspect of armed banditry, or as a suspect of aiding and abetting banditry, or an accessory after the fact," Prof. Kindiki said in the statement.