OPINION: Ending banditry must deliver lasting peace

For families living in parts of the North Rift and northern frontier counties, insecurity has shaped everyday life for years.

A parent sending a child to school must worry about the journey ahead. A pastoralist moving livestock in search of pasture faces the possibility of an attack.

A trader travelling to market must consider the risks along the road. Decisions that should be ordinary have, for many families, become matters of safety and survival.

The consequences reach far beyond the immediate violence. Families have lost loved ones, livestock and homes. Children have had their education interrupted, businesses have struggled to operate, and communities that once depended on shared grazing lands and water sources have found themselves divided by suspicion and conflict.

Each attack threatens livelihoods built over generations, leaving families uncertain about what tomorrow may bring.

Yet these are regions of extraordinary beauty and potential. From the Korkoron Hills to the Suguta Valley, the landscape offers opportunities for tourism, enterprise, agriculture and other livelihoods. \The people who call these places home have the same ambitions as Kenyans elsewhere: to educate their children, grow their businesses, care for their families and build a better future. For too long, insecurity has stood between them and those possibilities.

The persistence of banditry reveals a challenge that has confronted successive security interventions. Raids may be disrupted, stolen livestock recovered, and illegal firearms seized, yet violence can return when the conditions sustaining it remain unresolved.

Criminal networks continue to profit from livestock theft, competition over water and pasture fuels tensions, and longstanding grievances deepen mistrust between communities.

The challenge is to break this cycle and create conditions in which families can rebuild their lives without the constant threat of losing everything again.

This understanding has shaped the government's response through Operation Maliza Uhalifu, launched in February 2023, alongside disarmament efforts including Operation Rudisha Bunduki. Together, these operations have recovered more than 2,600 illegal firearms and over 17,000 head of livestock.

Behind these figures are livelihoods that matter deeply to families. For a pastoralist, livestock represents years of investment, a source of food and income, and the means to educate children and provide for a household.

Recovering stolen animals helps restore what families have lost. Removing illegal firearms reduces the weapons available to criminal groups. Sustaining these gains requires continued protection and action against the networks that make banditry profitable.

This means pursuing livestock theft beyond the scene of an attack. Those who finance raids, organise criminal activity or knowingly trade in stolen animals must face the law.

Strong investigations, credible evidence and successful prosecutions are essential to disrupting these networks, while the lawful return of recovered livestock helps families regain their livelihoods.

Security operations must also create the conditions for communities to reconnect with the services and economic opportunities that insecurity has disrupted.

More than KES 4.2 billion has been spent on security roads and infrastructure, with over 520 kilometres of roads built or improved. For communities that have lived with restricted movement, these investments carry practical significance. A farmer needs a reliable route to market before produce loses its value. A trader needs to reach customers and suppliers. A parent needs to know that a sick child can reach a health facility safely.

The value of these roads will ultimately be measured by how consistently people can use them, the opportunities they open and the livelihoods they help sustain.

At Ngarachi Comprehensive School in Laikipia, classrooms have been rehabilitated by Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) engineers and their partners. For children whose education has been affected by insecurity, a functioning classroom represents an opportunity to learn and progress alongside their peers.

That promise depends on teachers being available, children attending school consistently and parents feeling confident about their safety.

The same applies to health facilities that need staff and medicines, water systems that require maintenance and public services that must reach communities previously cut off by insecurity. Each functioning service helps restore a measure of normalcy and gives families greater confidence to remain, invest and plan for the future.

This is why security agencies, the Kenya Defence Forces, other national government ministries and county governments are being brought together through a coordinated development approach.

The aim is to ensure that security gains are supported by functioning services, economic opportunities and investments that respond to the needs identified by communities themselves.

The people who live in these areas must remain central to that process. They understand the grazing routes, the water points shared between communities and the local disputes that can escalate into violence. Their knowledge is essential to preventing conflict before it occurs.

Through Nyumba Kumi structures, National Government Administration Officers and security teams, residents must have dependable ways to report threats and receive timely responses without fear of reprisals.

Women, elders and young people must also have a meaningful role in dialogue, conflict prevention and decisions about the resources on which their communities depend.

Rebuilding trust is equally important. Security operations must remain firm, intelligence-led, professional and lawful, protecting civilians and respecting their dignity. Allegations of abuse must be investigated through appropriate accountability mechanisms, including the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and the National Police Service Commission's disciplinary processes.

Communities are better able to cooperate with security agencies when they have confidence that their concerns will be heard and their rights respected.

For families who have lost relatives, homes or livelihoods, the return of calm marks the beginning of a longer recovery. We must also prioritise reconciliation and support for families rebuilding their lives, ensuring access to justice and confidence in their safety. Neighbouring communities need opportunities to restore relationships, resolve longstanding grievances and establish fair arrangements for sharing water and pasture.

Young people, too, need credible opportunities to earn a living and a voice in shaping the future of their communities. Prevention grows stronger when people can see a future worth protecting.

Elgeyo Marakwet's role as one of this year's Mashujaa Day co-hosting counties brings these possibilities into focus. Sport, commerce, education and community life all depend on the confidence that people can gather, participate and pursue their ambitions safely. The region's potential is reflected in the abilities, enterprise and determination of its people, whose aspirations deserve the opportunity to flourish.

The work ahead requires sustained vigilance, particularly in areas that remain vulnerable. Progress must be measured through the experiences of the people who live there. Are children attending school without interruption?

Can pastoralists move their herds safely? Are farmers cultivating their land and traders reaching markets? Can families access health facilities and other essential services without fear?

These are the everyday measures that will tell us whether security gains are taking root and whether communities are experiencing meaningful improvements in their lives. They must be assessed consistently over time, including in areas where insecurity continues to restrict movement and opportunity.

For the families who have endured years of violence, lasting peace means the freedom to live without fear of another raid, another displacement or another interruption to their children's future. It means being able to keep their livestock, cultivate their land, grow their businesses and rebuild relationships with their neighbours.

The task before us is to secure that future through sustained protection, reconciliation, dependable services and opportunities that communities can build upon.

The true measure of success will be found in the lives people are finally able to lead, and in a generation that inherits the promise of these regions rather than the insecurity that has held them back.

The author, Dr Raymond Omollo, is the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration.