Early this year, Baringo experienced huge displacement of persons in parts of Tiaty, Baringo North and South constituencies due to insecurities, drought in the areas and floods in Lake Baringo which saw a number of residents flee for refuge to other areas.
However, through National and county government interventions of deploying 20 reservists in the insecurity-prone areas, holding several peace meetings among the warring communities of Tugen, Pokot and Marakwet, and imposing of dusk-to-dawn curfew, sanity in the county has been reached.
Baringo County commissioner Abdirisack Jaldesa while speaking during a peace dialogue and cohesion declaration held by the Inter-religious Council of Kenya (IRCK) at Rift Valley Hills Resort urged displaced persons in the entire affected parts of the county to go back and vote, assuring them that security has been beefed up in their respective areas down to the polling stations.
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"Early part of this year, we had issues of insecurity in parts of Baringo South and North but through interventions from the National and county government, we managed to beef up security in the prone areas and I urge all the people who initially went away to come back to their respective areas to exercise their right to vote,” he said.
The county commissioner hinted that the peace and security team together with the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) have worked closely in doing the mappings for the county for better assessment and ensuring that all polling stations are manned by enough security personnel to avoid any hindrance.
“This election is open and everybody must participate in order to exercise democracy and vote for leaders of their own choice, we are working in handy together with the county security team in ensuring that peace is reached in our county during and after elections,” he alluded.
He noted that only a few days were left ahead of the August 9 General Elections which he said was important for one to express civic rights and choose the leaders of their own who would later help in representing their interests
The commissioner further called upon the local leaders to help in reaching out to the displaced persons to get to their respective homes and ensure that they all get to exercise their rights as Kenyan Citizens.
Baringo peace meeting
The dialogue meeting, which was attended by representatives from the national government, county peace and security team, religious and political leaders, was meant to discuss peace and tolerance among ethnic communities before, during and after elections in the county.
Among the asked question by the residents during the dialogue was the issue of illicit brew which had for long not only crippled development in the county but also led to the destruction of a number of lives.
The Baringo commissioner said that together with the judiciary, they will work in handy to ensure that culprits caught consuming illicit brew are punished.
“I will not relent in the fight of this menace I'm passionate in seeing that it gets to be a tale in our county as it has seen several youths to graves so early, the illicit brew which has crippled our economy and made our people poor, this should come to an end and it starts with one, be vigilant enough to report any cases and allow them to face the full law,” he stated.
The county commissioner however decried the small amounts of fines meted by the courts to the offenders, noting that he together with the judiciary will work in handy to give maximum sentencing to those found engaging in illicit trade as it was a matter not to be taken lightly.
Baringo Deputy Governor Jacob Chepkwony, who was among the congregation, noted that the dialogue with the residents will go a long way in ensuring that the interests of every citizen are tabled and administered in the right way, thanking all the stakeholders who took place in making the meeting a success.
“Despite the county having diverse issues, peace should be on the forefront, we need to embrace one another and choose our leaders wisely knowing that they would represent us better,” Chepkwony noted.
He assured the residents that there would be efficient service delivery during the election period to ensure that essential services are fully delivered to the residents.
"I want to assure you that even as we are heading to general elections that staff will be much vigilant in ensuring that the county staff are all providing efficient services and no sector will be paralysed by any means," Chepkwony added.
