Samburu MCA Paul Leshimpiro Shot Dead Along Highway
The MCA was rushed to Morijo Dispensary where he succumbed to gunshot wounds.
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Angata Nanyekie Member of the County Assembly (MCA) Paul Leshimpriro was on Sunday morning, February 25 shot dead by suspected bandits in the Soit Pus area of Samburu North.
Samburu County police boss Thomas Ototo while confirming the incident to the press revealed that the politician was killed by bandits while heading home along Morijo-Baragoi Road.
His vehicle was ambushed while he was returning home from Maralal Town. Leshimpriro was in the car with his driver when the shooting occurred. Fortunately, the driver escaped unhurt.
The MCA was rushed to Morijo Dispensary where he succumbed to gunshot wounds. His body was taken to the Samburu County Referral Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem examination.
Entrance to Samburu County Assembly. /SAMBURU COUNTY ASSEMBLY
Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Nominated Senator Hezena Lemaletian, who was the first key politician to react to the shooting, boldly accused President William Ruto's government of protecting the Pokot community given that it was not disarmed and evicted from their homes in comparison to the Samburu community.
"The president must come out and tell us what his relationship is with the Pokot bandits and if he is aware that the Samburu people have had sleepless nights and days intensively from the start of his term as president.
"He must also make it clear if indeed he is incapable of restoring peace in the region and weak as far as his internal security capacity is concerned. You disarmed my people and left our neighbours armed. They have poked your nose several times and you are just but useless," she stated on her Facebook page.
The shooting comes as the bandits have taken a bolder stance and increased their attacks on people including villagers and even travellers in the region compared to when they staged attacks intending to steal livestock.
Five people were killed in separate bandit attacks in Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, and Samburu counties last Wednesday.
Bandits ambushed and killed a 59-year-old man in Baringo North and two others in Marakwet East, before driving away a herd of cattle.
The man was shot as he attended to his livestock near Yatya Primary School, while the two were ambushed and fatally shot in the Liter area in East Marakwet, police said.
The killings sparked protests in Kabarnet and Marigat towns, where locals lashed out at the government for what they term a failure to stem the tide of banditry in the area.
In Samburu, the bandits shot and killed a man and his son, before making away with 150 cattle that were later recovered by a contingent of security officers that repulsed the bandits.
The government had been spearheading the war against bandits in the Rift Valley counties of Elegeyo Marakwet, Samburu, Turkana, and Baringo among others.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki had on March 12, 2023, issued a vacation order to all civilians living in specific banditry-prone areas declared as scenes of crime.
