Kenya: Police in Mandera under orders to shoot and kill

MANDERA (KON) - Police in Mandera are under orders to shoot and kill those found perpetrating crimes following the escalation of inter-clan wars.

News Keydmedia Online
25 August 2014

At least one person has been confirmed dead in renewed clan fights between the Degodia and the Garre clans.

Mandera County Commissioner Alex Ole Nkoyo said the shooting in Rhamu on Thursday started after a truck from Moyale was ambushed.

Five other people sustained serious injuries.

The county commissioner said police had been given the green light to shoot anyone found burning or destroying property or killing another in the town that witnessed an increase in violence since Sunday morning.

Ole Nkoyo said security heads and government officials are on the ground to talk to the elders and political leaders in a bid to stop the fighting.

He said the police had managed to contain the situation and called on elders and religious leaders to preach peace in the area.

At the same time, Nkoyo has allayed fears that area security agents were incapacitated in quelling the Rhamu inter clan skirmishes that have left one person dead, scores injured and families displaced.

Area politicians in statements they issued in the media on Sunday had cited complacency in the manner in which police were dealing with the clashes.

Nkoyo has faulted the politicians and has told them to come clean on the matter as they know what is going on and should stop blackmailing the public.

The clashes pitting the Garre and Degodia communities he said is not tribalism but political dominance with politicians using militias for their self interests. He warned that the trend must stop as security teams continue holding meetings with the clergy.

On Saturday, evening a lorry with five people on board from Moyale was attacked, one person killed and three others injured according to Nkoyo.

The administrator said militias from the two clans engaged each other yesterday as they shot in the air to scare away each other and nobody was killed during the fire.

Contrary to reports that the government was not intervening, Nkoyo said the General Service Unit, the Rapid Deployment Unit, Administration police and Regular police were all on the ground and by Sunday evening had managed to contain the situation.

Unconfirmed reports from Rhamu indicated that the clashes had kicked off again but Nkoyo maintains that police are in control.

Meanwhile, Police chiefs drawn from the region are holed up in a high level security meeting which began in Mombasa Monday.

The meeting which has Interpol officials in attendance is deliberating on ways to enhance security in a region plagued by rising incidents of crime.

The Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo says the annual meeting under the auspices of East African police chiefs association will see France, Germany, Turkey, Algeria and Nigeria send security experts to the regional meeting.

Kimaiyo said strategies to enhance critical linkages and minimize intra and inter border crimes will also be discussed. Police commanders and heads of criminal investigations from 17 countries are expected to share vital information on terrorists, drug dealers and poachers during the one week meeting.

Those attending the event at a coastal hotel include police chiefs from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Comoros, Eritrea, Seychelles, South Sudan and Tanzania.

KBC