A day after the parliament held a private session to discuss the latest clashes witnessed at Banita settlement scheme Rift Valley PC Osman Warfa has said the clashes are political. The PC has said an MP from a constituency within Nakuru County is responsible for the violence witnessed at the settlement.
“What is happening at Banita is not a land problem. Our investigations show that a politician with vested interest is fuelling the conflict,” Warfa told journalists at his office. The PC further said that the politician in question has enlisted members of a gang calling itself Blue Boys and is targeting members of a community the politician suspect will not vote him.
The PC expressed his confidence in dealing with the matters saying that there is no cause for worry since the problem is just one individual. “We shall deal with the individual once we have quashed the criminal gang,” the PC said.
The PC stated that all measures will be factored in dealing with the insecurity issues and all gangs which the politicians might use to cause chaos.
“You cannot joke around with security issues in Rift Valley and expect to get away with it; security issues will not be compromised here,” warned the PC.
The latest skirmishes in Banita saw four people sustain arrow injuries after a group of youth attacked mourners during a burial ceremony on the disputed settlement. Only one suspect has been arraigned in court concerning the incidence which has gained strong condemnation from various sectors.
The land in dispute was bought by the government from a foreign farmer and latter distributed to squatters and post-election violence.
Another group latter claimed entitlement to be settled on the same farm and been obstructing the other community to use the land.
According the PC 65 per cent of those settled in the community come from one conflicting communities and in total there are 1,555 residents in the four villages at the settlement.
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