Members of the National Assembly have expressed outrage at the continued incarceration of 40 Kenyan herders of Turkana origin in neighbouring Uganda since April this year.

The debate was triggered by a Statement from the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, read on the Floor of the House by the Leader of Majority Party Hon. Kimani Ichung'wa on the matter.

The Statement was in response to a petition presented by Hon. Protus Akuja (Loima) on Tuesday 22nd August, 2023, in which he told the House that the herders had been allegedly illegally court-martialed and jailed in Uganda. 

The Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Dr. Alfred Mutua clarified in the Statement, that the arrest of the herders had been occasioned by a series of events following the murder of three Ugandan geologists and two members of the Uganda People Defence Forces whose firearms were stolen in March 2022.

According to the Statement, the first eight herders were arrested in March 2022 and allegedly denied committing the murders. However, they were jailed for 20 years each for possession of illegal firearms.

The CS said the other 32 pastoralists were nabbed during a cordon and search operation by UPDF in Turkana on April 8, 2023, and subsequently court-martialed and jailed for 10 years for alleged possession of illegal firearms. 

Consequently, said the CS, Uganda President H.E Yoweri Museveni had issued ultimatums regarding any amnesty or release of the jailed herders. 

These included a directive that Kenya should arrest those responsible for the murders, and in event this is not achieved, that Kenyan authorities should make reparations for the families of the deceased. 

Dr. Mutua said Kenya  is pursuing diplomatic avenues to resolve the standoff.

"The CS for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs has been in contact with his Uganda counterpart and a physical meeting will be organized in full appreciation of the urgency and severity of the matter," read the Statement in part.

Deputy Speaker, Hon. Gladays Boss, who presided over the afternoon sitting directed that the Departmental Committee on Defence, Intelligence and Foreign Relations takes up the matter.

Members who weighed in on the subject expressed concern at the continued arrest of Kenyans by Ugandan authorities and called for speedy diplomatic initiatives to restore good neighbourliness.