Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has called for the gazettement of Kerio Valley as a "disturbed area" following the accelerating insecurity in the region.
Speaking on Monday, June 2, during the burial of Priest Fr. Allois Cheruiyot Bett, the lawmaker claimed that the gazettement of this area will be fundamental in disarming and flushing out the criminal elements and restoring peace in the region.
Cherargei said that the government will deal with anyone conducting criminal activities in the region as a "domestic terrorist."
The Senator affirmed that the restoration of peace in the region will be a key component in catalysing the economic and social metamorphosis of the region.
"I won't like to ask this with a lot of respect because when some areas around Mount Elgon had some security challenges, the government gazetted them, so we need to gazette Kerio Valley as a disturbance zone," the senator said.
Additionally, the lawmaker stressed that security agencies, led by the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), should pull up their socks and expose whoever is responsible for terrorising residents in the Kerio Valley community.
Cherargei assured that he will be at the forefront to ensure that those responsible for the death of Father Allois are apprehended and brought to book.
"What happened in Kerio Valley is domestic terrorism, and I want to assure you that we went to the Senate and urged the National Defence and Security community to speed up their investigation, and our questions are simple: why was the father killed, and by whom and why like that?" he said.
"Justice must be done for the slain Priest Fr. Allois Cheruiyot Bett of St. Matthias Mulumba Tot Parish Catholic Church; the killers must be apprehended and taken to court. It is unfortunate the criminals are yet to be arrested," he added.
Father Allois was killed in an ambush on Thursday, May 22, as he was heading back to his base after his sermon.
According to witnesses, the assailants sprayed the priest with bullets moments after he concluded a Jumuiya (small Christian community) mass in Kakbiken village.
A day after his death, Friday, May 23, President William Ruto called for swift investigations and the arrest of the priest's killers.
"Our condolences to the church, the faithful of St. Matthias Mulumba Tot Parish, Diocese of Eldoret, for the loss of Father Allois Cheruiyot Bett," the president said.
In a statement on Thursday, May 29, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) castigated the killings of Father Allois and Father John Maina, who was found unconscious along the Nyeri-Nyahururu highway and later lost his life while receiving treatment, and urged the government to expedite speedy investigations.
