Amid escalating tensions in the Kerio Valley area, the government has announced plans to involve the Kenya Defence Forces in the peace-keeping mission, albeit via training facilities.
On Thursday, December 25, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen announced that starting January 2026, the government would embark on the establishment of training grounds for different forces, including the KDF, within the Kerio Valley region.
According to Murkomen, the training grounds, which have already been approved by President William Ruto, will serve both the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) and the National Police Service (NPS), who will work hand in hand to ensure security in the region.
"As part of the efforts to make this peace, we shall be establishing permanent security installations of different nature, either an operational base for some of the formed up units," the CS said on Thursday, December 25.
"We will establish here a new training ground, whereby the way people go to Kiganjo for training, they can also come here. The president himself has already given direction on how we will establish training bases for the security teams in this region," he added.
Part of the reason the government has resorted to setting up the institutions is to find a lasting solution to the lingering banditry issue, rather than using temporary measures, as has been the case in the past.
Murkomen further stressed the need for local residents to collaborate with security agencies to eliminate banditry.
"I commended members of the community for their cooperation with the Government, which has been instrumental in the restoration of peace and tranquillity in the Kerio Valley region. Unlike in the past, residents were able to enjoy the Christmas festivities without any security concerns," Murkomen said in Marakwet East on Friday, December 26.
The late comes days after the CS declared 14 parts of Trans Mara as disturbed areas following a string of violent clashes that left several people dead and hundreds displaced.
In a Gazette Notice dated December 19, 2025, Murkomen listed Kilgoris, Ang'ata Barrikoi, Lolgorian town, Mogondo, Keyian, Kirindon, Olderkesi, Nkararo, and Kapsasian as security-disturbed and dangerous areas of Narok County.
Other areas in the list include ogged Kakemer, Ntimaru, Masurura, Kapsarok, Mogor, Nairagie Enkare, Maji Moto, and Naisoya as other regions within Narok that were considered insecure.
The government has made strides in battling clashes in these regions, including embarking on disarmament exercises, but the threat continues to linger, mostly because bandits are less fearful of National Police Reservists (NPRs).
Murkomen recently revealed that the latest disarmament exercise saw the recovery of 1000 illegal firearms, which significantly reduced banditry activities.
In a statement on Saturday, December 20, Deputy Inspector Generals of Police Eliud Lagat and Gilbert Masengeli announced a 30-day dusk-to-dawn curfew in Trans Mara East and South, following the latest wave of clashes.
