Turkana curfew set for review as security improves, says CS Murkomen

The government is set to review the curfew imposed in the last three years to curb the runaway insecurity in Turkana, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said on Wednesday.

Speaking after holding a closed-door regional and county security meeting in Lodwar town, Turkana, during the Jukwaa la Usalama tour of the county, the CS noted that a return to relative calm in the disturbed areas, especially Turkana South and East, made the review necessary.

"I will be reviewing the curfew timing based on the security briefing to give locals more time as we monitor the situation. In three months, if the conditions become good, we might consider lifting the orders," he said.

Consequently, the area will be under curfew between 10:00 pm and 4:00 am in respect of the March 2025 Kakuma Kalobeyei curfew and in February 2023 in Kainuk, which were imposed following security concerns to restore peace and order in the region, especially at the camp and settlement.

The curfew also affects the area along the Kainuk-Lodwar road, which has resulted in complaints by locals and businesspeople.

Turkana is one of the largest counties with a vast population and facing complex security challenges, including banditry, refugee influx, porous borders and pressures from climate change.

"We have challenges here related to the refugee camp, you know that there has been a shortage of supplies of food and other items, which is threatening peace in the Kakuma camp and presents a challenge with the local community," he said.

Similarly, the CS addressed a myriad of issues touching on refugees' status and implementation of the Shirika plan, National Police Reservist reforms, banditry, boundary and border disputes, as well as human-wildlife conflict.

"Turkana is in a unique position where it is facing the problem of banditry locally and internationally in the sense that the pastoral communities we border in South Sudan, Uganda and Ethiopia also are a challenge to the Turkana people," he said.

He, however, noted that locally, the county has experienced relative peace courtesy of the ongoing Operation Maliza Uhalifu.

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• Turkana curfew set for review as security improves
• says CS Murkomen