I'm Safe- CS Alice Wahome After Escaping Gunfight

CS Wahome was evacuated safely from the scene...

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Jan 20, 2023 - 13:11 Updated: Jan 20, 2023 - 13:32
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I'm Safe- CS Alice Wahome After Escaping Gunfight
Water Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome. /DAILY NATION

Water and Sanitation Cabinet Secretary (CS) Alice Wahome has spoken after her convoy was on Friday, January 20 caught up in a shootout between cattle rustlers and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officers in Marsabit County.

The CS was in the county to inspect a water and sewerage system project and had wrapped up inspecting the construction of Bakuli Dam near Marsabit Forest when her convoy encountered the gunfire.

The bandits, according to a report by the Nation, had killed an elderly herder at the Marsabit Catholic Shrine area in Saku sub-county before driving away an unknown number of cattle and goats.

They were fleeing into Marsabit Forest when they encountered the KWS officers, leading to a shootout which injured one of the bandits, who escaped with gunshot wounds.

CS Alice Wahome at the Marsabit Water Supply Project addressing the media on January 20, 2023. /TWITTER.ALICE WAHOME

CS Wahome was evacuated safely from the scene and later proceeded with her journey to Marsabit Police Station where she took a flight.

"Inspection of Marsabit Water Supply Project and Marsabit Water Supply - Water Treatment Plant, Bakuli Dam. I am safe and now on my last visit to Othaya," she tweeted.

Prior to the incident, CS Wahome assured that the Kenya Kwanza government was committed to ending the perennial acute water shortage in Marsabit County.

She ordered all contractors and other government agencies to clear the way for the quick completion of Bakuli Dam whose construction began in 2015, noting that the dam will produce 750 cubic litres of water per day. 

She assured Marsabit residents that the project will eliminate the problem of acute water shortage once it is complete. Its construction at Ksh7.7 million had been hampered by a stalemate caused by encroachers, forcing Marsabit town residents to depend on two springs from the Bakuli area.

The CS also assured the residents that the government would soon embark on the construction of the Ksh3 billion Badasa Dam with a higher capacity of 1,500 cubic litres of water per day. The construction of the dam stalled in 2007.

On December 15, 2022, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua opened up on a plan by President William Ruto's government to replace police officers with officers from the National Youth Service (NYS) in protecting key establishments as the officers are deployed to areas across the country affected by banditry and crime.

If the plans by President Ruto are successful, the police officers would complement chiefs and assistant chiefs in areas affected by banditry following an announcement by Interior Cabinet Secretary Prof. Kithure Kindiki that they will be furnished with firearms.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki speaking in Wajir County on November 24, 2022. /FILE

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