Kenya's Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said authorities have seized 602 illegal weapons from the North Rift region as part of an expanded government campaign against unauthorized civilian gun ownership. The operation has brought peace to previously unstable communities and allowed shuttered schools to reopen, Murkomen told reporters on Tuesday in Baringo County while traveling with President William Ruto.
Baringo residents have voluntarily turned in 170 firearms. Murkomen said the current effort differs from past campaigns because it relies on intelligence gathering and modern technology rather than force, enabling officials to track gun owners, banditry financiers and stolen livestock buyers individually.
The secretary warned politicians against protecting armed civilians and urged anyone still holding illegal weapons to surrender them at police stations or through local chiefs. He said the government will act decisively against those who refuse compliance. Murkomen pledged continued security improvements to permanently end violence and banditry in the North Rift.
Baringo residents have voluntarily turned in 170 firearms. Murkomen said the current effort differs from past campaigns because it relies on intelligence gathering and modern technology rather than force, enabling officials to track gun owners, banditry financiers and stolen livestock buyers individually.
The secretary warned politicians against protecting armed civilians and urged anyone still holding illegal weapons to surrender them at police stations or through local chiefs. He said the government will act decisively against those who refuse compliance. Murkomen pledged continued security improvements to permanently end violence and banditry in the North Rift.
