Ugandan Soldiers Invade West Pokot Village, Drive Off With Over 400 Cows

• West Pokot residents accused the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) of making an incursion into Kenyan territory
• Lopeta Nduywa, a resident, claimed the forces attacked at 3pm while he was grazing cattle, including his brother's
• Nduywa alleged the troops rounded up the animals in the village before driving off towards the Ugandan side of the border

Didacus Malowa, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, brings over three years of experience covering politics and current affairs in Kenya.

West Pokot - Ugandan soldiers have found themselves at the centre of the insecurity being experienced in the North Rift.

The Ugandan forces have been accused of stealing over 400 cows in Kacheliba Sub County on Wednesday, November 29.

Lopeta Nduywa, a resident, said he was grazing a herd of cattle, including some of his brother Tukuk Rodinyo's, when the soldiers struck.

A report by Citizen Digital says the soldiers attacked at 3pm before seizing the cattle and driving them towards Uganda's side of the border.

The locals have since reported the incident to the Kanyerus Police Post, which has opened an investigation.

Rising insecurity in West Pokot

The attack by the Ugandan forces come barely a day after six people were killed at Lochacha village following an alleged stand-off between cattle rustlers and area residents.

A section of the residents claimed three locals who were looking for the cattle rustlers were killed by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officers.

On their part, the residents managed to corner one of the assailants who had made away with an unknown number of goats.

West Pokot County Police Commander Peter Katam confirmed the incident, stating that investigations had commenced.

Kindiki issues shoot-to-kill order against bandits

In other matters to deal with security in the North Rift, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki put armed criminals on the spot.

Kindiki issued a shoot-to-kill order against criminals who target security officers or camps.

"In the fight against banditry and livestock theft, the multi-agency security officers will target individual criminals," Kindiki said.

Taking to his X account, the CS maintained that the government would not profile or criminalise any community.

"Security officers must work with law-abiding citizens to identify the few criminal elements who terrorise innocent residents, impoverish them economically, and taint the image of an entire community," he added.