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Clerics blame police for women’s arrest
THE STANDARD
11.April2007
By Isaiah Lucheli
Police in Mt Elgon have arrested 13 women for allegedly flouting orders.
They were allegedly arrested while carrying sacks of vegetables at Kipsigon and detained at the Kipsigon Police Post.
Police said they defied orders barring people from entering the area.
Kipsigon has been sealed off to facilitate police operation in the area, said to be the hideout for the Sabaot Land Defence Force (SLDF).
People have been barred from the area for allegedly delivering food and other essential items to members of the militia, which had hampered police efforts to curb the SLDF operations.
The Anglican Church of Kenya, Diocesan Head of Development Awareness Programme for Eldoret and Kitale dioceses, the Rev Maritim Rirei, condemned the arrest of the women on Sunday.
The clergyman said the women had gone to collect vegetables from the farms they abandoned following clashes in the area to go and feed their children.
"The arrest of the women was wrong as they had gone to look for vegetables for their starving families. Why should people die of hunger when food is rotting in the farms?" asked Rirei.
He said police ransacked the luggage the women were carrying, but did not find weapons or anything suspicious.
He wondered why they did not release them after the search.
"We appreciate the police are doing their work, but if they did not find weapons or suspicious material in the sacks the women were carrying, why did they not release them?" Rirei asked.
He said the women, most of whom are widows, had left their children home in search of food and claimed that their children were now starving following their parent’s arrest.
Mt Elgon OCPD, Mr David Makokha, confirmed the women’s arrest and said they had barred residents from entering the area.
"We have had claims of women being sexually assaulted in the area and their arrest was for their own good, said Makokha.
After such incidents, he said, residents shifted the blame to the police. He said the women were held to prevent such
problems.
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