Murkomen: Poor Communication Delayed Lake Turkana Attack Rescue

Over 20 fishermen were killed and several others critically injured after heavily armed Dassanech militia ambushed them on Lake Turkana’s Todonyang border point on the evening of Saturday, February 22. The attackers, suspected to be from Ethiopia, opened fire indiscriminately, leaving fears that the death toll could rise.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, speaking on Wednesday, February 26, revealed that poor communication from Ethiopian authorities significantly delayed any rescue operation. “Due to poor communication on the Ethiopian side, information of the attack started reaching the Kenyan authorities late at night,” he stated.

Murkomen added that diplomatic talks between Kenya and Ethiopia, held in Nairobi on Tuesday, February 25, finally enabled Kenyan security teams to access Ethiopian territory for a search and rescue mission. “The team from the Kenyan side, working with their Ethiopian counterparts, accessed the area of the incident and are currently searching for the missing persons and the 15 boats,” he noted.

Local police reports suggest the attack might have been a retaliatory strike following the killing of three Dassanech fishermen by a well-known bandit in Turkana earlier on Saturday.

In response to the escalating insecurity, Murkomen announced plans to arm National Police Reservists (NPR) to support regular security agencies. “NPRs, who play a critical role in complementing regular security agencies, will now be better equipped and incentivised to deal with militias and other criminal gangs,” he said.

The National Police Service (NPS) also issued a stern warning to local communities against engaging in retaliatory attacks, emphasizing the need for restraint as security forces work to restore order.