Nairobi, KENYA: A section of legislators have backed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s shoot to kill directive for illegal firearm holders.
In a media briefing at parliamentary buildings on Monday, Laikipia Senator John Kinyua and Laikipia West Member of Parliament Patrick Mariru said they fully back the president’s directive saying that such people have caused more harm in the society.
“I want to say that we support the president wholly on that shoot order, and I want to tell our county commissioners from our area they should do that,” Kinyua said.
On Sunday President Kenyatta while in Turkana County flagging off the transportation of oil from Ngamia 8 Well in Lokichar, Turkana South Constituency, said that owning illegal arms was unacceptable and his administration would not tolerate it.
President Kenyatta also issued a stern warning to residents who fail to surrender illegal firearms.
Kinyua said that the directive should be extended to pastoral areas that have been prone to bandits in decades.
“We are suffering, people are being killed every day if somebody is not killed, somebody is being shot dead,” Kinyua said.
He urged the government to increase security officers in pastoral areas in order to reduce attacks that result in incidences of insecurity.
“In Laikipia, our people are not armed, we are law abiding citizens but every day we are getting criminals coming to attack us, we are very disappointed,”Kinyua added.
