BY SAM ALFAN.
Bura Member of Parliament Ali Wario has petitioned the High Court to stop the violent eviction of the Somali community from Basahargeisa village that borders Kitui County.
He claimed the village is polling station number 48 in Bura constituency for the last 11 years and the unlawful removal of the Somali community was politically motivated.
“4 and 6 have held impromptu public rallies in Basahargeisa where they have declared that Basahargesia is in Kitui county and that all people that are Somalis must relocate or will be returned forcefully to North Eastern Kenya or Somalia” said Wario in his affidavit.
The MP asserted that a contingent of police officers and mercenaries from the Kamba community invaded the village on February 21 under express instructions of Mwingi MP Joe Mutambu and the Kitui County administration. Villagers and their livestock had been forced to flee the area.
“The illegal orders are apparently precipitated by boundary dispute between Tana River and Kitui County resulting in intra-tribal conflict over grazing rights,” Wario argued in court papers.
The legislator accused Mutambu of declaring that the village was in Kitui County and all its inhabitants must relocate or be taken back to North Eastern or Somalia. Mutambu had threatened to acquire guns and ammunition to annihilate the villagers, he claimed.
Wario said he had unsuccessfully sought the intervention of government officials and MPs from Kitui County.
He says Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaiserry held a public rally in Mwingi on February 24 and promised to deploy over 200 Kenya Police reserves. “The women and children are traumatized for being placed under siege by Kamba mercenaries with the help of police officers and are constantly living in fear for their lives,” Wario said.
The MP said the illegal police operations have disrupted the lives of the villagers and children cannot attend school. The innocent people are being treated in a cruel manner and their constitutional rights have been grossly violated, he said.
Wario is required to serve the court papers on the INterios CS, the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney General to facilitate an urgent hearing.
