Kamket arrested, freed over Kapedo skirmishes
Zadock Angira and Wycliff Kipsang’
Controversial Tiaty Member of Parliament William Kamket was yesterday arrested and grilled in connection with the ongoing skirmishes in Kapedo, Baringo County, among other issues.
Kamket maintained he did not know why he was arrested, but sources said he had been linked to a recent incident where some Pokot youth took an oath before they proceeded to Kapedo where a senior General Service Unit (GSU) officer was shot dead.
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After his release, Kamket wrote: “My heart is bleeding for Tiaty. Let us remember our brothers who were murdered in cold blood.
Pray for their souls and for their families, friends and relatives. Their only crime, like mine, is being born in Tiaty.”
He was released on a cash bail and is expected to report to police in Nakuru next Thursday even as tension remained in Kapedo.
The fatal attack, which prompted police operations, took place between Kapedo and Chemolingot in Baringo County at Amaya center at around 4.30pm four days ago.
Legislator was picked up by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Nairobi and detained at the Kileleshwa Police Station. He was later in the evening transferred to Nakuru where he is expected to be charged.
Yesterday afternoon, while speaking to People Daily on phone, Kamket said: “They have not told me why they arrested me.”
Intense police operations that yesterday culminated in the arrest of the MP follows Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i’s warning that police will conduct serious operations to ensure the attackers are brought to book.
The CS insinuated that the people behind the attack will, if need be, be killed.
Matiang’i said investigations had revealed the ambush took place against the backdrop of a ritual ceremony in which organised bandits were intentionally charged and adjured by some traditional leaders in a form of cultural ceremony.
“In this particular case, we will ensure they are facilitated to meet with the Lord. We are also going to increase our resources to look for them and we will get them,” Matiangi said.
Kamket’s arrest came just a day after he urged President Uhuru Kenyatta to deescalate the fighting in the area.
He and Senate Majority Leader Samuel Poghisio faulted the security operators of applying excessive force in ending the skirmishes, terming them inhumane.
The two leaders asked the government to change tack in addressing security concerns in the volatile area, saying the disputes were over boundary on exactly where Kapedo belongs, poverty and lack of basic necessities.
On Tuesday, just two days after the killing of the GSU commander, bandits also attacked a police armoured personnel carrier in the area, prompting a major shootout.
Later, six bodies were discovered in Arabal area with bullet wounds on the head.
The Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai is leading the unprecedented operation in the area, with the CS warning that they will not relent until all the perpetrators, including the elders who administered the oath and sent off the killers are surrendered and brought to justice.
Captured on camera
“This operation will be extensive and sustained as we meticulously comb through every nook and cranny in the area until we find the last criminal,” he said.
He appealed to the locals to work closely with security officers as part of the efforts to change the national security doctrines in the area and decisively address the escalating attacks.
“We appeal to members of the public to work closely with our security officers with a view to bringing this matter to closure and begin a return to normalcy.”
In one of undated videos shared widely, Kamket was captured saying Kapedo was in Tiaty, Baringo County and that the matter had been concluded by the court, Senate and the locals and warned they would deal with any person trying to challenge that.
