Kenya: Church condemns attacks in Turkana

Barely twelve hours after a group of Pokot raiders killed two children, and stole 3,000 animals in the northern district of Turkana, another group of rustlers attacked Kangole village, last Wednesday, killing seven men and stealing 1,125 camels and 3 000 goats. The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission (CJPC) of Lodwar and Kitale dioceses immediately condemned that attacks and expressed dismay at the way the government security personnel responded. In a statement, Kitale Diocese CJPC Coordinator Fr Gabriel Dolan SPS, who sent a representative to the scene, said that lack of sufficient security personnel was to blame for the attacks. Fr Dolan took issue with the district police chief for claiming that CJPC was exaggerating the figures of those killed. "He should acknowledge the truth and act on it," he said. Fr Dolan called upon human rights networks and organizations to assist the Turkana Community by pressurizing the Kenyan Government to protect her people and arrest those behind the raids. "Turkana people are living in fear and desperately left alone to perish in the hands of brutal and violent attacks," the statement concluded. Source: CISA