Nairobi News

Trans Nzoia governor George Natembeya has accused political leaders of failing to champion for the interests of residents.

The county chief claimed some leaders were out to enrich themselves instead of improving the livelihoods of those who voted them into office.

“Some leaders sit for few minutes in important meetings and tend to rush to other events. They pretend to be busy yet important issues touching on citizens are discussed in such meetings,” he claimed.

He added: “I am sure some leaders have not set foot in respective areas since they were elected during the last elections. They intend to visit three months to elections and confuse voters with monies”.

The county boss also lamented that some leaders in office and their rivals were using insecurity to gain political milage in the region

“It is wrong to seek heroic status in the community when innocent people end up losing their lives. We must all agree to support peace initiatives in our region.”

This comes as Governors from the North Rift region have disclosed an array of measures to restore peace in the region that has borne the brunt of banditry attacks.

Among the raft of 16-point resolutions include immediate cessation of hostilities in the region, establishment of county policing authority and a common policy towards tackling insecurity as they plan to organize peace meetings that will bring together all elected leaders to promote peace in the region.

This comes even as the latest attack that happened on Thursday night at Kinyach on the border between Baringo and Elgeyo Marakwet counties left one dead and several injured in the attack.

On July 7, 2023, governors under North Rift Economic Bloc (Noreb) namely Mr Natembeya (Trans Nzoia), Simon Kachapin (West Pokot), Jonathan Bii (Uasin Gishu) and Benjamin Cheboi (Baringo) said that despite the region being endowed with resources it had lagged behind due to insecurity.

The county bosses made the remarks after a two-day peace summit where they signed peace agreement.

The summit that brought together political leaders, county officials, clergy and development partners to chart a way forward in promoting peace in the region.

Mr Natembeya revealed that they will organize a meeting in the coming weeks that will bring together all elected leaders in the region to promote peaceful co-existence in the region.

The governors also acknowledged that the competition for scarce resources, boundary disputes and political completion were fueling the insecurity in the region.

“What is causing conflicts is boundaries and we must shift from pettiness to serious matters because it doesn’t matter where people live because all are Kenyans. . . We all know that boundary is an emotive issue but we want to see our leaders avoid division and incitements but instead champion for co-existence,” noted Mr Natembeya, also Noreb’s peace and security chairperson.

Governor Kachapin also stated that it was time for all political leaders to work together and ensure that all residents live peacefully.

He explained that through collaboration with development partners they will mobilize resources towards peace caravans to preach peace among the communities in the region.

“We have the good will from the national government and the president and I want to pledge our commitment to this initiative. I am optimistic that this will go a long way to solve issues bedeviling in this region,” said the county boss.

Governor Bii noted that leaders from the region will continue to work together to promote initiatives to end banditry that had resulted in loss of innocent lives, disruption of livelihoods and displacements of the people.

“We want to commit resources towards peace and development in the region. We also want to have the border schools to bring together all communities in the region,” added Mr Bii.

He said that governors will champion for the operationalization of the cooperation agreement in the respective counties to enable each devolved unit to mobilize finances towards the bloc’s activities.

Deputy governors Prof Grace Cheserek (Elgeyo Marakwet), Gabriel Lenengwesi (Samburu), Dr John Erus (Turkana), Robert Komole (West Pokot) and Dr Yulita Mitei (Nandi) were also present at the summit.

Other leaders who attended the peace summit were Trans Nzoia senator Allan Chesang and MPs Dr John Ariko (Turkana South), Nixon Ngikor (Turkana East) and Joseph Makilap (Baringo North).

“The role of leadership in conflict resolution cannot be underestimated, all elected leaders must take charge because it is same leaders who fuel this conflicts,

“It is time that we call all elected leaders for a meeting so that we have honest conservation about this issue because we don’t want it to recur,” said Dr Ariko.

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