Senate to push for cattle rustling to be declared a terrorist act

Iten, 

Friday, November 10, 2023 

KNA by Alice Wanjiru

The Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations has vowed to push for the passing of legislation which will declare cattle rustling a terrorist act following a petition by the Elgeyo Marakwet County Assembly.

The Committee led by the chair William Cheptumo agreed with the Assembly that a cattle rustler and a bandit have the same characteristics and therefore required to be treated the same by the law to serve as a deterrent to the cattle rustling menace.

 Speaking at the Assembly, the chair County Administration, Justice, Public Service and ICT committee Paul Suter told the Senate committee that just like terrorism, cattle rustling involved use of violence, firearms and endangers human lives by causing disorder in society and interferes with delivery of services among others.

He therefore told the senate committee that just like in the terrorism act, a person who engages in cattle rustling resulting in the death of another person, should be liable upon conviction to imprisonment for life.

Suter said while a thief who breaks into a house while using force is charged with robbery with violence which carries a penalty of death, a person charged with cattle rustling is sentenced to a maximum of 15 years which is not enough to deter others from committing the crime.

“A criminal who breaks into a house while armed and steals electronics in urban areas may be sentenced to death after being charged with robbery with violence while a rustler who drives away over 100 animals while wielding a gun gets a lenient sentence,” he said.

Elgeyo Marakwet Senator William Kipsang said most of the cattle rustlers go scot free due to lack of evidence as no one wants to testify in court for fear of being harmed once the criminals serve their sentence.

The senator said cattle rustling has always been treated as a lesser crime due to its cultural background where people used to raid other communities in order to pay dowry but said the practice has been commercialized leading to deaths.

“Nowadays people no longer raid communities to pay dowry, instead whenever there is a raid, there is always a lorry waiting on standby to transport the livestock to slaughter houses leaving widows and orphans behind,” he said.

Isiolo Senator Fatuma Dullo hailed the Assembly for coming up with the petition saying it was the first county assembly from cattle rustling prone areas to engage the Senate in trying to seek a lasting solution to the menace.

The petition also called on the national government to establish a Kenya Defence Forces permanent camp in Kerio Valley and also to come up with a Marshall plan for development of the Kerio Valley.

Courtesy; KNA