Isiolo: Isiolo County Commissioner (CC) Geoffrey Omoding has directed Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs to incorporate Nyumba Kumi elders in their effort to strengthen security, through which intelligence reports on crimes would easily be made available by the public. Addressing Assistant County Commissioners, Chiefs and their assistants, and National Police Reservists (NPR), Omoding emphasized the importance of sealing panya routes used by criminals for livestock theft and highway banditry, ensuring that suspects are apprehended.
According to Kenya News Agency, Omoding stated that every chief, as the chairman of the location security committee, should collaborate closely with Nyumba Kumi elders to gather intelligence on crime suspects. This collaboration is crucial in enabling security personnel to apprehend suspects during joint operations efficiently. He assured the Chiefs, Officers Commanding Stations (OCS), and Nyumba Kumi elders of government support in their security efforts, aiming for residents to conduct
their activities without fear.
The administrator further instructed security chiefs to identify areas requiring additional support at the Location or Sub-County levels to ensure successful security operations. He mandated weekly updates on the security status of their respective areas to be submitted to him. On the topic of cattle rustling, Omoding highlighted that 95 percent of recently stolen livestock had been recovered. He urged the community to provide accurate figures of lost animals to the police, as exaggerated numbers complicate the accounting process for lost and recovered livestock.
“The problem with pastoralists is that they do not give the exact number of the lost animals and more often than not, they exaggerated the figures so as to get more in compensation,” Omoding remarked.