CS Kindiki removes 2 police commanders from Meru over cattle rustling

Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof Kithure Kindiki gave the directive on Tuesday saying the move would ensure efficiency in security operations in the banditry-prone area.

The two are Igembe North Sub-County OCPD and the officer in charge of GSU.

“To facilitate investigations and ensure efficiency in security operations in the disturbed area, the following changes have been made in the Igembe North Sub-County Police Command with immediate effect,” read the statement.

“The Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) for Igembe North Sub-County has been removed and the Officer-in-Charge of the General Service Unit (GSU) command in the area has also been removed.”

As part of other measures to curb insecurity in the area, CS Kindiki said the proposed Anti-Stock Theft Police Unit (ASTU) facility at Loloro was complete and would be operational beginning Wednesday, May 10, 2023.

He noted that following a public request to procure a police vehicle and upgrade a police post, two more posts would be set up along the border.

Likewise, the CS reassured of heightened security in the area saying multi-agency teams had been dispatched in the disturbed areas.

“We have upscaled intelligence-led security surveillance in the area. To this end, the County and Sub-County Security and Intelligence teams have intensified their surveillance to ensure there will be no recurrence of cattle rustling activities in the area,” he said.

In regard to the recent brutal killing of the former area MCA George Kaliunga, Prof Kindiki said two intelligence teams were closing in on some suspects who after arrest would be arraigned to face murder charges.

Kaliunga was allegedly shot in the chest a week ago by bandits suspected to be from Isiolo County when he was pursuing them after stealing his livestock.

According to reports, he was shot during a fire exchange between the bandits and officers who were accompanying him.